


Psychology

by Yo_Hows_It_Going



Category: Naruto
Genre: Art, Depression, F/M, Foul Language, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Painting, Psychology, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2020-12-28 11:04:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 50,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21135680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yo_Hows_It_Going/pseuds/Yo_Hows_It_Going
Summary: One bad day can cause a title wave of psychological breaks and discoveries





	1. Help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, how's it going. So a little more than a couple of things before we start.
> 
> 1) This story has some heavy hits on depression, thoughts of suicide and quite a bit of foul language. If you have any problems with this at all I would find something else to read.
> 
> 2) I'm not the best writer in the world. I make mistakes...lots of them. Feel free to let me know of any of these mistakes by whichever means you like and I will try to fix them along with the next update.
> 
> 3) Enjoy your flight :)

Neji woke up from his office chair with the smell of wet paint filling his lungs. The scent made him smile as he sat up, stretching his arms while looking around his room. Several paintings, paper and canvas alike, hung from the walls. Even more, laid propped up on random pieces of furniture. It filled his bland off-white walls with different colors and places that he could only dream of going. He strained his eyes as bright morning light poured into his room from the balcony. The natural light was great for painting, not so much for early school mornings. He blinked a few times, his eyes settling on the easel in front of him. A half-finished painting of a cloudy twilight sky set in the snowy mountains by a river sat there, calling him. It was one of the most challenging, beautiful pictures Neji had ever tried to paint, but it had to be done. He wiped some sleep from his eyes then looked down at his hands. They were colored with dried paint in different shades of reds, oranges, and yellows. Despite his colored hands, 

Neji wasn't a messy painter, in fact, far from it. Sometimes his fingers provided a better stroke and texture than his brushes could. He cursed under his breath. The color on his hands didn't bother him, but the consequences that came with them did. Standing, he stretched again, his back and shoulders popping loudly. Sleeping in his chair was never ideal and happened way too often. Neji sauntered over to his bathroom to attempt to wash the different colors from his hands, but his phone vibrated before he could make it. Grabbing his phone off the easel, he tapped the touch screen showing a message from Sasuke.   
‘Going to be late for class. Distract teach?' Neji chuffed at the message and quickly sent back a ‘you wish' before getting up to get ready for school. Even a shower and an extra hand washing didn't get rid of the strange color on his hands. 

A puff of air passed through his lips, "Going to get chastised about this now," he grumbled to himself. 

He dressed in an off-white collared shirt and some khaki slacks, a simple rendition of his school's uniform. With a yawn, he walked out of his room and down the stairs to the kitchen. The house he lived in was large, some might even call it luxurious, but it was lifeless to Neji. Nothing but brown and white on top of more brown and white with random statues and store-bought paintings desperately trying to pour life into it. It didn't work. The colors of the house were dull. The sculptures were old and dusty. The paintings that hung on the walls lacked the bright, saturated colors that the real world provided. The excess space didn't help either, making the place always seem empty. Neji hated it here. The kitchen was no exception to this lifeless, colorless, hollow feeling. Just replace the paintings and statues with random kitchen appliances that are never used. He quietly strode to the fridge, grabbed a small yogurt, and walked over to the dining room. The dining room was rather vast, with a table that could probably fit an army of people. His younger cousin and uncle were at the table on opposite sides. Both eating lightly toasted bread, though his uncle was reading the news on a tablet while doing so. Hinata was quietly reading a book wearing a collared shirt in a similar color to Neji's and a navy-blue skirt. Neji walked to Hinata's side of the table, giving her a light one-armed hug before sitting next to her and starting on his yogurt.

Hinata gave a warm smile, "Good morning, Neji, how are you this morning?" 

Neji's answer was delayed due to a mouth full of yogurt, but he gave her a small nod with a slight smirk. "Good morning Hinata and I'm fine, thank you." 

Hinata looked at Neji's hands, slightly amused by the weird colors. "You forgot to wash your hands after painting last night again, didn't you?" 

Neji let out a mixture of a groan and sigh, "I couldn't get the sky right last night." 

Hinata giggled, "And what was wrong with it this time?" 

"That's the problem! I don't know. For some reason, it just.... lacks...something." 

Neji seemed to get lost in thought after saying that. Hinata stared at him for a second, slightly amused by his artist block. This wasn't the first time he's done this. For years now, he would ask her about random color palettes, where specific landmarks should go in different paintings. Hinata wasn't the artsy type. Sometimes she didn't understand what he was talking about, but she was always happy to help him. She lightly tapped him on the shoulder, breaking him out of his train of thought. 

"How long did you stay up?" 

"About three am," he grumbled out, hoping that a certain uncle wouldn't hear him. 

"You shouldn't be staying up so late, Neji. A good night's sleep leads to a healthy mind." his uncle chimed in, not looking up from the tablet. 

Damn it. 

Neji rolled his eyes but responded respectfully, "Yes sir." 

"Also, the summer is over. I expect you will be paying more attention to your diploma and working on a degree in psychology rather than this hobby of yours." 

Neji's grip on his yogurt container increased until it was crushed in his hand. "Of course, sir," he grumbled bitterly. 

Jolting up from his chair, he strode over to the trash can and threw the rest of his yogurt out. He grabbed a few paper towels to wipe his hand off and turned to Hinata, "You ready to go?" 

She jumped slightly before responding, "Uh, yeah, let me just grab my bag."

Neji was quiet most of the drive to school, his knuckles white from his tight grip on the wheel. As they drove, they passed by a massive skyscraper with the letters Hyuuga Psychiatric at the top. Neji glared at the building as they passed by. That building was the bane of his existence. After about five minutes, Hinata spoke up. "You know you could just tell him that you don't want to join the company." 

"Last time I did that, I was apparently going through hormone changes and just needed to 'let it pass' until I grew older," he snapped back. 

"Then how about you just not join the company." 

"And be disowned and kicked out of the house, don't think so. I'd like to have somewhere to live through the rest of my education." 

"He wouldn't do that." 

"Did it to my father, why would he not do it to me." 

"Neji..." 

He didn't acknowledge her for a second before letting out a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean...." 

"It's okay, I understand why you feel that way." 

The car went silent again. They both looked in opposite directions from each other. "D-do you want to get some coffee? We left a little early," he suggested. 

"No, that's okay." 

The disappointment in her voice made his heart hurt. "C'mon, I'll pay for it, largest size you can think of." He turned to Hinata and gave a small sympathetic grin. She looked back at him with a thoughtful face for a minute but couldn't help but smile again. 

"Fine, but I'm paying for my own." 

"I said I'm paying for it, so I'm paying for it." 

"Neji..." 

"Hinata..." They both stared at each other, Neji looking back and forth between her and the road. "Fine," she sighed. Neji grinned at his victory as he drove in the direction of the coffee shop.

The Hyuuga duo pulled into the Konoha Private Academy parking lot about twenty minutes before classes started. The school grounds were massive, taking up about seventy-five acres. That didn't include the monstrous gated off woods in the back of the school. Hundreds of students all shuffling in from all directions, all wearing collared shirts of different colors and slacks; some girls were wearing skirts. They both got out of the car, bags and coffee in hand. 

"I'll see you at the end of the day," Hinata said quietly, beginning to walk away. 

"Hey." 

She stopped, looking up to him. 

"I'm sorry, about...you know," he sighed.

Hinata gave a small smile then nodded, "It's okay, really. Thank you for the coffee."

Neji smiled back and watched her disappear into the mass of students. He absolutely hated making her upset, but he also absolutely hated her father, which made things difficult. He would be a lot happier if Hiashi weren't so insistent on joining the stupid company. Neji didn't want to become a psychologist. He liked painting and drawing, not talking to people and solving their problems. He wasn't much of a social butterfly or very trusting for that matter. Neji had a tiny group of friends who would only give half-answers, lies, or just the cold shoulder to when they asked too much. In fact, Hinata was the only one that Neji would fully disclose what he was feeling also. To him, she was like a sister. He trusted her wholeheartedly, which is why things were difficult. She loved her father, and Neji complaining to her about him always made her upset. Maybe he should stop talking to her about it. 

Neji pushed his way through the mob of students inside the building just to get back outside to the picnic area. The outdoor eating area, right outside the cafeteria, was gigantic. Picnic tables scattered throughout the yard with large trees covering them with cooling shade. As soon as he made it to the picnic area, he almost instantly found one of his friends. Rock Lee was the only student to wear a green collared shirt, green slacks and sport a bowl cut without a shred of self-doubt. As soon as Neji tapped his friend on the shoulder, he shot up from his seat and wrapped his arms around the young man. Though this greeting was not one that Neji particularly cared for, it was inevitable. He had known Lee for years. This was just the way he was; there was no changing it. 

"Neji! How are you, my friend, how was the latter half of your summer." 

"It was fine. Just did some painting." He held up one of his hands to show off his new skin tone. "How about your trip to Suna?" 

"It was very enlightening. The country's form of martial arts is very different from ours due to the terrain. They have to..." 

Neji started to tune him out, which was nothing new. Lee tended to get a little overzealous about topics he didn't really care about. Thanks to his uncle, he was very good at pretending to listen. His thoughts slowly started to drift to his painting. What the hell was it missing? 

"Hey...Hey, Neji." 

Neji snapped out of his thoughts, "Yes, what is it." 

"If you don't mind me asking, what is your first class today?" 

"Huh? Oh, it's uh college-level psychology." The word psychology just left a bad taste in his mouth. 

"Oh, that's good. We have the same class. Your uncle will be proud when you pass with flying colors." Lee smiled, patting his back. 

Neji gave a small short smirk. Most of his friends knew that he didn't want to join the Hyuga Psychiatric Company, but Lee was not one of them. Neji found it would be more of a pain to tell him. Dealing with him continually saying what a missed opportunity it would be if he didn't, or he should follow his youthful heart, whatever the hell that meant. Either way, it would be a pain. "Speaking of which, we should get going. Don't want to be late," he spoke up before Lee could start talking again. 

"Of course!" Both of them started on to their class, Lee still talking about his trip the entire time. They made it to the classroom right as the bell rang. It was a dull classroom with white walls, brown desks, and the occasional inspirational poster with a kitten. The two of them sat across from each other around the middle of the room. Neji observed who all entered the room along with them. Most of the students he knew for years prior, but a few were new. 

"I wonder where the teacher is," Lee said, looking around the class. Neji just shrugged and began to dig in his bag for a sketchbook and some pencils. Hopefully, if he could draw out the painting he was currently working on, he would figure out what was missing from it. He was in his own world for about ten minutes until he felt a hard pat on his shoulder, causing him to draw a hard-straight line across the paper. Whipping his head over his shoulder to see Sasuke taking the seat on the other side of him. Neji started to erase the mark across the page. 

"You're an asshole, you know that." 

"Takes one to know one." 

Neji stopped erasing and looked at him with a flat expression, "Really, we're going back to kindergarten today." 

"We're already in a room full of kindergartners, so why not." 

Neji rolled his eyes at this very typical answer. Sasuke and Neji had been friends for the past two years. They would always take jabs at each other, confusing most people when it came to their friendship. People didn't realize that they had a lot in common and could vent to each other. Both belonged to affluent families. Both hated the wealthy family they belonged to. Neji liked him because he didn't ask too many questions, nor did he care to. Though being friends with him did have its faults. Sasuke was the token 'bad boy' of the school, which attracted both teachers and girls, something Neji didn't want. It didn't help that Neji wasn't exactly hard to look at either. It took him a long time to build up a cold enough reputation, so girls would stop asking him out. 

"So, you here for the easy A too." 

Neji huffed at his question, "I wish. Though I don't need the class, my uncle demanded I take it to prepare to join the company." 

"Least you got a job straight out the gate not straight to college for a business degree." 

"Just replace business with psychology and your dead on the money." 

"You sound sooo exhilarated about that."

"Completely..." They went quiet for a few minutes until Sasuke groaned. 

"Where the hell is the teacher, it's been like ten minutes, and I was late?" 

"This is quite strange, maybe they're sick," Neji mumbled back, not looking up from his drawing. 

"We can leave after fifteen minutes, right?" Sasuke suggested. 

"We must stay in the classroom for the duration of the class." 

"Ah, shut the fuck up, Lee." 

"That is not a very nice thing to say," Lee argued. 

"I can show how nice I can really be later." 

"I will not..." 

"Would you two stop...please," Neji shouted, looking back and forth between both of them. He couldn't focus with both of them bickering across him. Before either of them could respond, the door to the classroom busted open. A white-haired man with an eye patch walked up to the whiteboard. He didn't say a word as he grabbed a marker and wrote his name on the whiteboard. Turning to the class, he introduced himself. 

"My name is Kakashi, no Mr. or sensei needed at the beginning or end. This is college-level psychology. Any questions?" No one decided to speak up or rather were a bit too shocked to do so. 

"Good, then we can get on with the assignment." He walked up in front of the desk and sat on it. "For those of you thinking that you're going to get an easy A, your right. In fact, for the entire year, you will only have one assignment, which only involves writing one essay due at the end of the year." 

Most of the students smiled at this with a few mumbles here and there. Sasuke nudged Neji in the arm, "Told you, easy A." 

Neji didn't respond. 

"So, no beating around the bush. All you have to do is form a full psychological evaluation on one of your classmates. Now I know what you're thinking, psych evaluations don't take an entire year to make, but you are a team of one, whereas normally you would have a team of many. I'm not asking you to tell me how this person feels for an entire year."   
He hopped off the desk, walking toward the whiteboard again. Marker in hand, he began to write what he was saying. 

"I want a clinical assessment, a mental status examination, a physical examination, and I hope writing all this down because I'm not going to keep it up here forever." 

The sound of students shuffling through bags filled the room, followed by the scratching of pencils and pens. Neji just moved to a blank   
page in his sketchbook. 

"I'll let you decide what type of tests you want to run to get these results. If you have any questions about certain tests, you can ask Google or me both of us know. Before I take any questions, there are going to be some rules with this assignment that I want to tell you. Any violation of these will result in an immediate failing grade." 

He turned toward the board again, writing again. "I know for a fact everyone in this room has heard of patient confidentiality." Kakashi wrote the last two words on the board. 

"During the next year, you are going to be this person's best friend, whether you like it or not. That being said, you might hear of some personal details that your partner may not want everybody in this school to know about." 

Kakashi leaned up against the desk; his voice darkened slightly. "If I hear any word that you have given away information about your partner that he or she would not approve of, you both will fail." 

Sasuke spoke up then. "Wait, that's stupid, why would both of us fail?" 

"Because some morons think it's funny to try and fail their partner by lying about them giving out information. So, to avoid this, you both will fail. Any questions about that." 

Everyone stayed eerily quiet. 

"Right then, rule number two, don't lie." Kakashi wrote down the last two words again then turned around. "If your partner happens to be a very loud, boisterous, and all-around happy person around everybody, but you write the opposite, you fail for obvious reasons. Any questions about that? No? All right, well, I'm sure you guys are really excited to pick out your friends and acquaintances for this project to make it as easy as possible."   
Most of the students looked around at each other, looking at the ones they would want to be partners with. Neji, in particular, was hoping of either Lee or Sasuke, mostly Sasuke. Lee would be easier to handle as far as getting answers to questions. Still, Neji didn't want him to know anything more than he needed to. Sasuke would be perfect because he didn't care about Neji all that much. Anything he told him wouldn't stick. 

"Well, too bad, I've already picked your partners." 

Shit. If Neji didn't want Lee knowing too much, he really didn't want some random person knowing. 

"I'll call you up, two at a time, so you can meet up with your partner face to face. Once you meet them, your free to do whatever you want, whether it's work on this assignment or not. You could leave for all I care." Kakashi started to call out names in pairs. Neji turned toward Sasuke, who looked slightly annoyed. 

"Seems like a weird thing to do," he whispered over to Sasuke. 

"Yeah, he's pretty much asking us to invade someone's privacy for a whole year." 

"I mean, I can't imagine it being that hard." 

"Well, all I know is, after I get whoever my partner is, I'm out of here. You in?" 

"Just for this class, I'm not skipping the rest of them." 

"C'mon, live a little man. It's not like anything interesting happens on the first day anyway." 

"Sasuke Uchiha and Choji Akimichi," Kakashi called out. Sasuke sat there for a minute, jaw slacked slightly. 

Neji started to chuckle, "Nothing interesting happens on the first day, huh?" 

"Fuck you," Sasuke growled, walking up to the front. 

Neji watched his friend sulk up to the front for a moment then turned to Lee. "Have you already been called yet?" 

"Yes! I was partnered with Shikamaru Nara." 

Great. The straight-A student that barely puts any effort into anything gets the most talkative student to do this assignment on, seems fitting. 

"Neji Hyuga and Gaara Sabaku." Neji cocked his head to the side, slightly looking around the room. He stood slowly, still looking around for who that could be, as he walked up to the front desk. A flash of red seemed to filter its way through the students, up to the front desk with him. Neji had never seen this student before, at least he didn't think he had. He defiantly would have remembered the bright red hair, not to mention the dark circles around the sea-green eyes. 

"Neji, meet Gaara. Gaara meet Neji." The redhead was slightly shorter than him, but not by much, wearing a dark red collared shirt and black pants. His face held no emotion as Neji did a small head bow. "Nice to meet you." Gaara only nodded in response. 

"Here is a small packet with some start-up questions to help you out and my contact information just in case you have any questions. I would suggest the first thing you do is get contact info from each other. Now, off you go." 

They both nodded, walking away from the desk. Neji followed Gaara to his desk, where he pulled out a small notebook, writing down his phone number and email. Ripping the paper out, he handed it to him. "I have to be somewhere. Just text or email me when you want to meet up, okay?" 

Gaara took the piece of paper from his hand and smirked. "Yeah, thanks." 

Neji was slightly taken aback by his voice. It was deep and gravelly with an accent that wasn't natural to this region. Despite this, Neji only nodded at him then walked back over to his seat where Sasuke was already packing up his notebook. 

"This is bullshit," Sasuke complained. Neji also began to pack up his stuff. 

"Save the complaints until we get out of here. Lee, you coming." 

"Hmm, I want to talk with my partner about our plan to..." 

"Lee, your partner is asleep." Lee looked over to where Shikamaru was sitting, where he was, in fact, snoring at his desk. 

"Talk to him later, I don't think you will get much out of him right now." 

Lee seemed to contemplate his options for a minute before standing up to gather his things as well. "I will go with you." 

"C'mon slowpokes. Don't have all day."

Sasuke led the two of them through the school and outside toward the back where the track field resided. Students were always allowed outside as long as they had permission and remained on campus. The school felt it was vital for them to get out and get some fresh air. To make sure nothing crazy happens, teachers often walked around to keep an eye on things. As soon as they made it outside, they found a nearby tree and settled down under its shade. Sasuke dug in his bag and grabbed a small rolled joint, lit it, and took a hit of it. After a few hits, he offered it to his companions. 

Neji waved it away, "I'd like to keep my chances of getting lung cancer to a minimum, thanks." 

"Neji is right, smoking is not healthy. If a teacher finds you, you could be suspended." 

"It doesn't give you lung cancer, idiots. And there are no teachers out here this early. They're too busy dealing with first-day bullshit." 

Neji stayed quiet. There was no reason to argue with him. Lee, on the other hand, "I am sure there are some studies that show that this can affect your lungs." 

"Then show me." 

Lee remained quiet. 

"That's what I thought." 

Neji started to pull out his sketchbook and draw the environment around him. It would make a good painting, although maybe a bit boring. All three of them sat there quietly until Lee spoke up again. "So Neji, who did you get as your partner." 

Neji stopped sketching for a second to think, "Ah Gaara Sabaku, I think. He had very vibrant red hair and a weird voice." 

"That name sounds very familiar," Lee mumbled quietly. 

"Ha, you got that freaky looking guy." 

"Do you know who said 'freaky looking guy' is?" 

"Not a chance, just know he came in late as I did." 

"Ah! I know who that is," Lee suddenly spoke up. Both Neji and Sasuke looked over to him. "He's from Suna, I believe he is the youngest son of the former mayor." 

"Former?" Neji questioned. 

"Yes, the major of Suna just recently passed away," Lee informed. 

"Why the hell is the kid all the way over here when his dad just died?" Sasuke spoke before Neji could ask the same question. 

"From what I understand, he's here on a foreign exchange program." 

"That seems like that would be canceled with a tragedy like that happening," Neji stated. At this, Lee shrugged. 

"Well, at least you have some talking points with your partner. What the hell am I going to talk about with mine, fucking chips." 

Neji couldn't help but laugh as he began to sketch on his sketchbook again. "He does eat a lot of chips," he agreed through his chuckles. 

"I'm sure there are other qualities to Choji than that," Lee suggested. 

"Oh yeah, Lee, like what? Name one thing, one single thing, about Choji that doesn't involve eating something." 

Lee thought for a minute, "He likes butterflies." 

Sasuke stared at him for a minute before finishing off the joint and tossing it aside. "Well, that's just fan-fucking-tastic Lee. Guess we'll just sit around eating chips and watching butterflies all year." He grabbed his bag and began to walk away from the two of them. 

Neji watched him leave. "Where are you off to?" 

"I told you already I'm ditching today, I'll see you guys tomorrow." 

Neither of the two said bye as he left. As soon as he was out of sight, Lee spoke up, "There is one more thing I didn't mention about Gaara Sabaku that I think you should know about." Lee's voice changed from energetic for more low and serious. This alerted Neji to stop drawing and completely pay attention to what he was saying. "While I was in Suna, some rumors were going around that Gaara had something to do with his father's death." 

"So, they think the Mayor was murdered?" 

"I don't know. No details were released about his death, but a lot of the citizens suspect Gaara had a hand in it. It also could be why he was sent here in the first place, to keep him safe." 

"Hmm, why didn't you say this before when Sasuke was here?" 

"I do not mean to be rude, but I do not know Sasuke that well, and rumors are just that. I would rather them not spread." 

"Yeah, I understand. Thanks for telling me." 

"You're welcome," Lee smiled. Before Lee could say anything else, the bell rang, signaling the end of classes. They both began to gather their things and walk back into the school building. "What class do you have next?" 

"Literature." 

"Well, my friend, this is where we part ways then. I will see you later." Neji only nodded to him as he disappeared into the crowd. The next half of his classes went by quickly until lunch hit. As he made his way out of his fourth class, he hoped that he could go outside and draw peacefully. Once he made it to the outside picnic area, he saw Hinata sitting by herself at one of the tables. He wasn't shocked; juniors and seniors had intermingled lunches. Almost instinctually, he walked over to her and sat down, startling her a little bit. He chuckled, "So, how has your day been." 

Hinata played with her fingers nervously, looking down at her lap. "U-um, it's been fine. I was just um." 

She looked around nervously. This was odd. Hinata tended to be nervous around a lot of people but never him. Did he startle her that bad? He was just about to ask when a voice so grating to his ears sounded off that it almost made them bleed. Turning slowly, he saw what he'd hoped he would never see this entire school year, Naruto. The bright yellow sunbeam was making his way over to their table with two trays of cafeteria food balanced in each hand. This is why Hinata was acting so nervous. It was a well-known fact that Hinata and Naruto had a thing for each other, though they weren't officially dating each other yet. Neji simply didn't like him because he was trying to date what he considered his sister. He ignored the other undesirable traits; being loud and annoying could be ignored, with focus. Naruto sat next to Hinata, placing one of the trays in front of her as he sat. 

"Here, ya go. Hey, Neji, what's up," he practically yelled! Neji put on a glare that could kill a charging bull. "Nothing much." 

Hinata sat there, uncomfortably. She knew Neji had a particular disdain for Naruto. Things were always terribly awkward for her when they were together. It didn't help that Naruto was utterly oblivious to Neji's hate. "I didn't know you were coming to Neji, I would have grabbed you something. Want me to go back?" 

Neji looked down at what Naruto had brought. Two packages of steaming ramen, a cinnamon roll for Hinata, and a giant cookie for him. "No, thank you," he said, turning away for the two of them. Usually, he would leave, but he was way too stubborn to leave his little cousin with this...this creature of yellow light. "N-Neij, you should really eat something," she said, offering him her cinnamon roll. 

Now that he thought about it. He was hungry, but he couldn't take that from her. It was her favorite. That cookie, on the other hand. In one quick but smooth motion, he reached grabbing the cookie off of Naruto's tray, taking a chunk out of it. 

"Hey! That's mine." Despite the bite already taken out of it, Naruto tried to grab it back. Neji kept it just out of reach as he took another bite. 

"Aw c'mon, that's not fair! Give it back!" Naruto reached again, almost knocking over his and Hinata's lunch. She pushed Naruto back down, "Naruto, calm down, I'll get you another one okay." 

The blond slumped down in his seat before getting up. "It's fine, I'll get another one." 

Once he was out of sight, Hinata gave Neji a small glare. He gave back an apologetic look. What he did was childish, and he knew it, but he couldn't help it. If Naruto were going to date his cousin eventually, he would have to get used to things like this. Hinata knew that Neji's teasing and insults were just a way of him showing some sort of affection, but it was still mean. 

"I'm sorry. I'll try to be nicer." It was almost robotic passing through his smirking lips. Hinata sighed. She knew there was no sincerity behind that. Naruto came back with a cookie shoved half in his mouth, sitting next to Hinata again. Neji decided to pull out his sketchbook. He had every intention of drawing during lunch. This was a mistake. As soon as he made a mark, Naruto was by his side in a heartbeat. 

"You draw! That's so cool. What are you drawing? No, no, no, let me guess. Uhhh, fashion! You look like you draw fashion models." 

Neji didn't answer, giving him a sneering look. In what way did he look like he drew fashion models? "Okay, not fashion models but their clothing, like a fashion designer." Neji didn't answer again. He would not humor him with his idiotic guesses. 

"So, are you any good, or are you just practicing? Have you met Sai? He's really good at painting, the best I've ever seen!" 

Neji's fist started to shake, gripping his pencil tighter and tighter. He was very good at suppressing his anger verbally, but things in his hands tended to broken or crushed in the process. Hinata noticed this and placed a hand on Neji's slightly calming him down. "Naruto, your noodles will get cold." 

"Oh yeah!" He hopped over from Neji's side to Hinata's, sitting down again and began eating without a second thought. Neji stared at him with disgust. What on earth did his little cousin see in him? He was about to ask when he saw a flash of red again through the corner of his eye. 

Turning, he saw Gaara passing by him, over to Naruto's side. The yellow light stopped eating instantly to greet him, "Hey Gaara, what's up. How's your first day going?" 

Gaara gave him a small smirk that went away as quickly as it came, "It's fine. Do you have those jars I gave you?" 

"Oh yeah!" Neji watched the exchange with interest as Naruto shuffled to pull two large mason jars out of his bag. Gaara took them wordlessly and put them in his own backpack. "Thanks," he said, walking off without looking back. 

"See ya later." Naruto waved before returning to his food. Neji almost, almost wanted to ask how he knew him but didn't. He probably couldn't survive another onslaught of questions from Naruto. Questions did run through his mind, though. Why did he need jars? A collector maybe, but of what? Hopefully, nothing gruesome. Neji was lost in thought for a while until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked over to Hinata, "Hey, the bell rang, lunch is over." He didn't even realize. Packing his bag, saying bye to Hinata, and went on to his next class. 

The rest of the day was entirely normal for the first day back at school—a bunch of introductions between teachers and students. Overly easy assignments passed around from class to class. By the end of the day, Neji was leaned against his car, waiting for his little cousin as waves of students passed him by. While waiting, hell, even throughout most of the school day, Neji only had two thoughts in his head. How to fix that painting and if his psychology partner was a potential murderer. The latter passing through his head more and more. Did he really kill his father? How could someone kill their father? Is he really that dangerous? He kind of looks that dangerous. What did he need those jars for? Body parts, maybe? The questions kept popping up one after another until he finally rubbed his temples in frustration. 

"Gah, I wish Lee didn't tell me that," he sighed to himself. 

"Tell you what?" 

Neji jumped slightly and turned to see his other friend Ten-Ten standing there with a smile. Ten-Ten was probably Neji's most trusted friend though that didn't mean much to him. She was the same age as him with brown hair tied into two buns, wearing a white collared shirt with maroon slacks. He had known her since middle school and could tell her almost anything. He defiantly was nowhere near as cold to her as he would be with others, but he would still withhold information. 

"Nothing. Hey, weren't we supposed to have a class together this year?" Neji breathed, still slightly startled. 

"We were buuut I had to change it. There's a new metalwork class that came up at the same time, and you know why I had to take that." Ten-Ten wanted to be a blacksmith who designed weapons. Neji always thought it was a bit weird, but it was what she liked to do. At least she got a choice in her future. 

"So, you abandon me for some weapons?" 

"Well, you could be in a class with me if you didn't take psychology." 

"You know why I had to take that class." 

"Yeah yeah, your future and all that jazz, but this is our last year of high school. We should be hanging out with each other at all times. We could never see each other again after this year." 

"I feel like that's a bit dramatic," Neji chuckled at her exuberance. 

"Or not dramatic enough. Listen, it's not too late for you to drop the class. You're going to be in college for psychology for the next eight years, whether you like it or not anyway." 

Neji almost threw up in his mouth when the words 'eight years' passed through her lips. He almost looked visibly sick. Neji stopped listening to Ten Ten and thought about what she said. Eight whole years of studying something that he wanted nothing to do with; eight entire years of absolute torture. 

"Hey, Neji, you okay?" 

"Huh, yeah, what was that?" 

"I was just saying that you should live a little and go to a party with me." 

"No," he responded with a flat tone. 

"C'mon, why not?" 

"The same reason why I couldn't, not take psychology. My uncle would kill me. Plus, I don't drink." 

"Not if he didn't know you went, and I swear to you if I mixed it, you'd love it." 

Neji let out a heavy sigh rolling his eyes, "You know that won't work. Something will happen. He'll find out. Then hell I'd probably be home-schooled for the rest of the school year." 

"Don't be so pessimistic. You're going to have to live your life sometime, you know, be a teenager for once." 

"My life has already been decided for me Ten, I'm just doing the motions." 

Ten-Ten stared at her friend. "Neji, that is the saddest thing I have ever heard, and I kinda what to hug you." 

"Please don't, I got enough of that from Lee today." 

"I can imagine. Speaking of our green friend, where is he?" She looked around to see if he was coming. He usually joined them after school was let out. Neji hoped that he didn't, but that reminded him of something. 

"Didn't you go with Lee to that Suna trip?"

"Oh yeah, though I was there more for their metalworking than the martial arts." 

"Do you know anything about the major's youngest son? His name is   
Gaara." 

"Hmm, from what I heard, he's bad news. Apparently, he was pretty violent as a kid, like he used to attack people. A lot of people are scared of him over there. They would always whisper when they talked about him like he could be standing right behind them." 

Neji's face went pale, his eyes wider than normal. Only one thought to cross his mind. His psychology partner was a murderer. Ten-Ten waved a hand in front of Neji's face, "Hello, earth to Neji. This is like the second time you've spaced out, and it's weird. Also, your cousin is here." 

Neji snapped out of it and looked over to his car's passenger side, where Hinata stood and waved with a smile. 

"Hey, why'd you ask about him anyway?" 

"Um, I'll text you later. We have to head home. I'll see you later, okay." 

"Yeah yeah, I want to see you at that party, I'll text you the details." Ten-Ten waved, walking away. 

Both Neji and Hinata hopped in the car. "So, how was your first day back," Hinata chirped? 

"Well, fine other than your crazy boyfriend, and I think my partner in psychology could be a potential murderer?" Hinata didn't respond but only stared at him with a slightly shocked expression. "H-he's not my..." 

"I know, I know. Won't mention it again." 

Neji started to pull out of the parking lot when Hinata spoke up again. "So your classmate is a murderer," she said slowly? 

Almost as if Neji was waiting for her to say that he spoke up. "So we have this crazy project in psychology where we have to do a full psychological profile on one of our classmates. I got this guy named Gaara Sabaku. He was the red-haired guy that Naruto handed the jars to." 

"Yeah, I remember seeing him though today was the first time." 

Neji took in a large breath. "Well, it turns out that he's from Suna and he's only over here because people think that he killed his father which Ten-Ten just said that he has a violent past which could mean that he very well might have killed his father." He exhaled, looking over at Hinata, whose face was half shocked half confused. 

"So…um…have you tried talking to him." 

"Well, no…kind of. I said like one sentence to him, and he said two words back." 

"Did he sound violent?" 

"No. He had an accent, though, so it was hard to tell." 

"Neji, you realize these are just rumors, right?" 

"I know, I know, and I told Lee I wouldn't tell anyone, but when it's all you think about all day, your mind tends to wander. You're the only one that I would trust to tell, so." 

"How about you talk to him, I mean you're going to have to anyway. He's probably not as bad as you think he is." 

"I will tomorrow, or maybe sooner than that, I gave him my email and number." 

"Oh well, you can't be that concerned then, right." 

"That was before I knew he could be a deadly killing machine." 

"I'm sure he's not a...." 

"I know he's not a crazy killing machine, but this shit been bottled up in my head all day, and it's all just coming out at once." Hinata couldn't help but laugh at his frantic behavior.

"It's okay, Neji. If it helps, I can ask Naruto about him for you. They seem to know each other." 

Neji growled. He didn't want that, but it was tempting, "I'll think about it." 

Hinata hummed in response until speaking again, "How about you finish that painting when we get home. It will take your mind off of things." 

"Oh god, don't get me started on that painting." Hinata laughed again as they pulled into the garage at the side of the house. She loved the fact that she saw what he was really like, but it wasn't healthy for him to bottle things up like this. To her, he was always that kind, slightly silly brother that would tell her anything and everything, but it was a different story with others. They saw him as a cold, serious, short answered young man that would instead brush you off than talk to you. The number of times she would hear girls that liked him be discouraged by others because they say he's cold and heartless; it made her sad. She really wished that would change one day. Have people see him for who he really is. Maybe if he found a girlfriend? Relationships were definitely something he had avoided for many years. She assumed it was because of his extreme trust issues. 

"Well, since Hiashi isn't here, I'm going up to paint before he comes up and complains." 

Both of them made their way out of the garage and into the house, "You're not going to work out first?" 

"No, I'll wait until he gets home. Try to avoid him as much as possible." Neji turned to head upstairs when Hinata spoke up again. 

"Um, hey, Neji?" 

"Hm?" 

Hinata paused for a minute, "Um n-never mind, I'll ask later." 

"Are you sure, I'm all ears." 

"No, it's okay. I'll ask later, really. Don't trouble yourself." 

"Okay?" 

She decided now was not a good time to ask about him getting a girlfriend. He didn't have much time to himself before her father got home. They both made their way to their respected rooms; Hinata was downstairs while Neji was upstairs. As soon as he got to his room, he changed into just sweatpants. Usually, he would go down to the basement and workout for a few hours, then go up to his room to paint, but Hiashi wasn't home yet. This changed his routine to paint while you can then go work out when he gets home to avoid him even more. Neji wasn't much one for working out. In fact, he hated it, but it was the one thing Hiashi didn't bother him with. 'A healthy body leads to a healthy mind' his uncle would preach all the time. The thought crossed his mind to become a fat, lazy slob just to spite his uncle, but he'd probably get criticized more. Neji sat down at his office chair near the easel and stared at the painting in front of him. 

At first, he thought about how on earth he would finish this thing, but then his thoughts wandered to his psychology partner again. There was no way that this guy could have killed someone. Even if he had, wouldn't he be going to regular school with everyone else? Wouldn't he be in high-security school with guards or something? Guess there was no real proof that he killed his father, or else he wouldn't be millions of miles away from home. Neji checked his phone to see if he received any messages from the red-headed mystery man. The only text was from Ten Ten, probably about this party she wanted him to go to. Rubbing his face, Neji let out a frustrated sigh. There was too much on his mind right now to paint anything. 

"Maybe I should just take a nap," he whispered to himself, getting up from his chair, flopping on his bed. The next thing he knew, he was jolted awake by a loud banging at his door. He yawned and checked the time. Was he really sleep for five and a half hours? He slowly got up and slumped to the door and opened it, only to find his least favorite person. 

"Neji Hyuga! It is well past dinner. What have you been doing up here." 

Neji was too tired to respond quickly, "I was um..." 

"You weren't up here working on that incessant hobby of yours, were you?" 

"No, I was just..." 

"Listen, Neji. I know you kids need some kind of hobby to help with the stresses of life, but you cannot let a hobby become an obsession. You'll be eighteen soon, you need to focus on your schooling." 

Neji just stared at him. Somehow, even though he just woke up, he was already tired again. "Hinata was kind enough to prepare a dinner plate for you. Be sure you eat it." 

"Right." 

Hiashi walked away from his doorway while Neji quietly shut his door back. He didn't know how to feel at the moment. There were too many emotions and feelings running through his brain. Rage because he saw his uncle? Confusion because he got lectured for doing the one thing he wasn't doing? Tired because he just woke up and his uncle made him even more tired? Maybe he felt sick. Sick because he was tired of being scolded all the time. Sick because he was tired of being told not to do what he loved. Sick because he was just tired in general. He had been dealing with this since his father died, and it was only getting worse. Ten years of being stuck in a hole that he couldn't dig himself out of were wearing on his mind. Sometimes he wished it would all just end. He slowly walked over to his bed and laid back down, looking out to his balcony. Maybe he should just end it. It would be better than living a life that he wanted nothing to do with. Then perhaps he could be reincarnated as someone else luckier that wasn't tied up and bound to their future. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment. 

The first image that popped into his head was Hinata's. She would be destroyed if he did something so rash, not to mention, blame herself. His friends would then be upset, probably confused, because he never let them know there was a problem. His damn uncle would probably boast to his colleagues that he could have 'fixed' him if he just talked to him. Neji decided against the idea almost as soon as it came up. Maybe he could get a part-time job, save some money then move out after high school. He could find an art college to go to and be up to his eyeballs in debt, but at least he'd be happy. Once again, his brain became overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions, so he curled under his quilt and fell back to sleep.

Neji woke from his bed with less of a paint smell filtering through his lungs. The sunlight that was usually poured into his room was covered by dark rolling clouds. His head began to pound as soon as he sat up from his bed. Despite sleeping for so long, he felt exhausted. Today is going to be awful; he could already tell. Neji went through his usual morning routine, showering, getting dressed, brushing his hair, and heading downstairs. This time not only was his uncle and younger cousin downstairs but his baby cousin as well. 

Hanabi was still in middle school, which meant that she didn't have school until hours after Neji and Hinata. He didn't always see her in the mornings. As much as Neji loved Hanabi, she drove his nerves up a wall and back down into a pit of boiling lava. He knew it wasn't necessarily her fault. She was going through a tough time in her life with hormones and all. Neji went to the fridge to grab his standard yogurt cup when he noticed the dinner plate still sitting on the shelf. 

"Fuck...," he sighed under his breath before grabbing the yogurt and walking over to Hinata's side of the table sitting down. 

Hinata didn't even get a chance to say hello before his uncle spoke up. 

"Neji, I noticed you didn't eat your dinner from last night. Any reason why?" 

"I was just tired and wasn't..." 

"You've never shown extra fatigue after school before?" 

"It was just a long day, and I..." 

"Is this due to your painting all night again." 

"No, I wasn't even..." 

"You really should stop painting anyway, you're not that good." Hanabi decided to chime in. 

"Hanabi! That is a terrible thing to say. Neji's paintings are wonderful," Hinata shot back to her in a stern voice. 

"Just because you want to be on everyone's good side doesn't mean that I want to be. I tell the truth." 

Neji took notice that it was Hinata to correct her behavior, not his uncle. Did he not like the paintings either? Neji had never asked before or, instead, never bothered to. To be honest, it wouldn't surprise him if his uncle didn't like them. His color pallet was rather dull and neutral. A shot of pain ran through his chest. Even though he didn't like his uncle, the thought of him not hating something he was so passionate about. It hurt. This was confusing. He shouldn't care about his uncle's opinion, right? Hiashi certainly didn't seem to care about Neji's opinion, so why should he grant him the same privilege. Neji rubbed his temples with his fingers. These thoughts were only worsening the headache. He didn't hear what Hinata said after Hanabi's retort nor what his uncle said to stop the argument. His head felt like someone had driven a metal stake straight through the back of his head and out his eye. He had half a mind to go back to his room and go back to sleep. Looking down at his yogurt, the thought of taking one bite made him sick. At some point, he stood up with his bag and started to head for his car. As soon as he reached his car, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He stopped and slowly turned around, 

"Hey, are you okay?" Hinata's voice made his shoulders relaxed a bit. 

"Yeah, can we just go?" His voice was low and soft like he had lost a war. Hinata decided to wait until they were in the car to ask again, but Neji was silent throughout the entire car ride. This did nothing but scare her. Neji always talked to her about everything, but this time nothing would come out. Did her father finally break him? Would she wake up one day, and Neji would be gone from her life? She could not let that happen. When they finally reached the school, Neji just skulked off without saying a word to her. At this point, a bullet wound to the brain would feel better than his head right now. He went straight to class, not bothering to find Lee. He sat down at his seat to find Lee already there. 

"Neji, how are you this morning?" He contemplated answering, would it be better or worse if he didn't. 

"I'm fine." His voice was low and dark. It made Lee a little uncomfortable. 

"Are you okay? You seem a little down today." 

"I said I'm fine Lee," he said back with a slight growl. Lee was taken aback slightly but decided it might be best to give his friend some space. 

"O-ok, let me know if you need anything." Neji didn't look or respond to him. He had a few moments of silence until there was a tap on his shoulder. 

"Hey, what crawled up your ass and died," Sasuke said, sitting next to Neji. He must have heard everything. 

"Nothing," he responded shortly. 

Sasuke stared at him for a second before shrugging, "Whatever, not like I really give a shit."

Thankfully, Lee, before he ran off to his partner before he could fall asleep, and Sasuke ignored him until Kakashi walked in. Once class was well underway, Neji looked around for the redhead, but he was nowhere to be seen. Honestly, he was okay with that today. Neji laid his head on the cold desk, simmering down the heat coming from his head. In no time at all, he fell asleep. He had a beautiful dream. He dreamed the painting he was working on was finished and hung beautifully on his room's wall. He dreamed of being a painter for the rest of his life. He dreamed of traveling around to all the beautiful places he painted to see them with his own eyes. It was a dream he never wanted to end, but unfortunately, all things came to an end.

"Neji? Neji? Hey, the class is over." 

Groaning, Neji slowly sat up from his desk, Lee looking down at him with concern. "Hey, you okay? You slept all through the class." 

Neji rubbed his temples; the headache was still there and going strong. Neji stood from his desk, grabbing his bag. "I'm fine," he said shortly, walking away from Lee. He was slightly annoyed that he woke him up. 

"Okay, would you like me to walk you to class?" 

Neji kept on walking, not bothering to turn around. "I'd rather you didn't," he responded coldly, disappeared into the sea of students leaving Lee alone in the classroom. The rest of the day passed by similarly. Classes would go on, and he would either fall asleep or keep his head down. Thankfully no teacher got too angry about it; a few threatening to call his uncle. He made his way outside at lunch, seeing Hinata and Naruto already sitting at the same table. This time he had no intention of interrupting them. He walked by the table, hoping they wouldn't see him, but that was wishful thinking. 

"Neji?" He heard Hinata's voice call out. It hurt to ignore her, but he didn't feel like talking, so he kept walking. This was a mistake. Naruto had taken it upon himself to catch up to Neji, stopping him by grabbing his shoulder. Neji immediately shrugged off his hand, turned, and glared at the yellow light. 

"Hey, Hinata was calling you." 

"I'm aware." 

Even Naruto, for a split second, seemed taken aback by the amount of ice that surrounded that answer. "Then why don't you go see her, she seemed a bit worried." 

"No," Neji started to walk away, and Naruto tried grabbing him again. This time Neji caught his wrist. 

"H-hey? I'm just trying to tell you that your cousin would like to talk to you. No need to be a jerk about it." Neji grip tightened to the point where arm shake. 

"Ow, ow, ow, hey, let go!"

Naruto tried to pry his wrist away, but Neji's grip was absolute. As soon as Hinata saw Neji grab Naruto's wrist, she jumped out of her seat and ran over to them. Through Naruto's struggles, she got in between them and tried to pry Neji's handoff. "Neji! Neji, let go of him, please." 

It took a couple more pleas before Hinata's words reached his ears. He let go, still glaring at Naruto. Naruto hissed in pain as soon as he was released his wrist, turning a beet red very quickly. "What the hell's your problem, man?" 

Neji didn't answer, only turned and walked away. Hinata wanted to go after him, but Naruto's wrist needs some ice, or else it might swell. She decided to help Naruto first then confront Neji on the car ride back. Neji continued on with his cold and silent attitude for the rest of the day. Even going as far as to walk out of one of his classes because the teacher wouldn't leave him alone. 

By the end of the day, he sat in his car and waited for Hinata to come by so he could finally go home. When there was a knock on the window, he thought it might be her, but instead, Ten Ten stood there waving. Neji reluctantly rolled down the window. "Hey, you didn't respond to my texts last night, not that it matters. I'm dragging you to this party, whether you like it or not." 

When Neji didn't respond, his voice went from happy to concerned, "Hey, you okay? Normally, I'd get a smart remark from that." 

"I'm fine. Can you go? I'm not in the mood," he said quietly. 

Ten-Ten looked at him for a second. Something was wrong, but she only sighed. Sometimes Neji did need space, and he didn't look like he was in the mood for teasing. "Well, I'll leave you alone then. I want you feeling better by tomorrow, okay." 

She patted his shoulder before walking away from the car. He thought he could relax after that, but then he heard a softer knock on the other window. Unlocking the vehicle, Hinata quietly sat down in the passenger seat. Neji started the car without saying a word. Hinata went back and forth in her mind on whether to ask Neji how he was doing. The entire incident with Naruto was entirely out of character for him. She had never seen him hurt anybody before, even when he was angry. She waited until school was out of sight to speak up. "Neji, are you..." 

"Please don't ask if I'm okay," he said back quietly. He had heard that question many times to count. Hinata fidgeted in her seat. Somehow it seemed colder in the car.

"Um, Naruto's wrist is okay. It's a bit bruised, but he'll be fine. He told the nurse you two were playing a stupid game, so you shouldn't get in trouble." 

Neji didn't respond. He didn't care whether Naruto's wrist was bruised or broken. Hinata fidgeted again, trying to think of something to say. Now it felt even colder than before. She continued to squirm around, making the leather seat under her squeak and whine. Neji took note of every movement that she made, every squeal, every whine. It was setting his teeth on edge. After another minute, he couldn't take it anymore. 

"Could you stop doing that please?" he snapped, a bit colder than what he wanted.

Hinata jumped slightly but made it her focus to stop moving, but she wasn't going to give up. "Neji, I-I know you're having a bad day today, but I want you to know that I'm here to help if you need it." 

Help. Was that what he needed? What could she help him with? Telling her father to fuck off and leave him alone, maybe? She would never do that. No, this was something that he would deal with on his own. He didn't need nor want help. 

"I'm okay, Hinata, I don't need any help." 

He defiantly was not okay, but she decided against giving a reply. Maybe he just needed some space. It was only one bad day after all; hopefully, he'll be back to normal in the morning. Neji was perfectly fine with her staying quiet the whole ride. He wanted to talk to her, but was it fair to complain to her about her own father. Making her upset was something he hated, and putting his problems on her wouldn't help her at all. 

Keeping it all to himself was best for this situation. When the duo got home, they got out of the car in silence. Hinata planned on saying something, anything, but by the time they made it into the living room, her father was sitting on the chair waiting for them. 

"Hinata, I would like to talk to your cousin for a minute, please." She stood there for a second, looking up at her cousin with concern. He looked so much more tired than just yesterday. 

"Um, father? N-Neji was going to help me with some homework. Do you think..." 

"He can help you afterward." 

Hinata still didn't move. Whatever he was going to talk about wasn't going to be good. She was about to protest again until Neji tapped her with his elbow. They looked at each other for a second until Neji nodded his head for her to go. She let out a slightly frustrated sigh and made her way out of the room. She took it upon herself to hide in the nearest hallway so she could hear what was going on. Neji walked over to his uncle, sitting on the couch next to the chair. He didn't bother saying anything; he knew his uncle would start. 

"So, I received a call from one of your teachers today. Apparently, you fell asleep in your class. In fact, when she talked to your other teachers, they said you did the same thing in other classes as well." Neji didn't bother responding. What was the point? 

"To add to it, you walked out of one of your classes and sent a boy to the nurses' office." 

Damn Naruto for not keeping his mouth shut. Game or not, any student sent to the nurse's office because of another gets an instant phone call to a parent or guardian. Neji assumed this is also how he found out about him sleeping and leaving classes. Knowing Hiashi, he probably insisted on talking to his other teachers.

"Listen, I know you think that I'm harsh on you, but I'm only looking out for your best interest." 

This statement confused Neji. Since when did he know what was in his 'best interest?' 

"You have got to focus on your schoolwork, and that's why..." he paused for a moment. "That is why I've removed all of your painting supplies from your room." 

"You what?!?" Neji almost shouted, his voice even cracking just a bit. 

Hinata even gasped at this. Without his painting, her cousin would be broken. 

"This will include revoking your allowance to buy more supplies. I will not allow you to paint if it is going to affect your schoolwork." 

"It's the second day of school, uncle. It's not affecting anything." 

"This has been a long time coming Neji, and I have been very patient with you." 

"I was just tired today a-and I had a-a headache, and it wasn't..." He was panicking; he couldn't think straight. His head was pounding, his eyes were on fire, and he felt like he couldn't breathe. Hiashi stood from his chair and sighed at his broken nephew. 

"I will give them back when you can prove that you are capable of doing both." Hiashi began to walk away from Neji. 

"Please." Neji's voice was shaking and low. His uncle stopped for a second, "Please, don't do this." 

"I'm sorry, Neji. You have left me no choice. I'm only trying to help." 

With that, Hiashi left the living room while Neji stood there, unable to move. Help? Help!? Why were people trying to help him now? He didn't need help. He needed to be left alone. Now because of this so-called help, his entire world was shattering. He didn't know how long he stood there motionless; seconds, maybe minutes. After a while, he started off to his room, not even noticing Hinata standing nearby. She tried to say something to him, but he didn't hear her. He walked right by. Little did he know the sheer damage that Hiashi had caused. Not only did he take his art supplies, but he removed almost all of the pictures out of his room. The only ones that remained were a few that hung on the walls, probably too high for him to reach. Neji felt cold, like his soul was just ripped from his body. His room was now colorless, lifeless, and soulless. The same white and brown that the rest of the house was. He slumped over to his bed and practically fell on it. At this point, all the anger, frustration, and hate all came out in one single form; tears. Neji silently cried into his quilt, not bothering to move. He stayed this way until he fell asleep. 

It was raining the next morning, the loud boom of thunder waking him up. The familiar smell of paint was devoid of his room. Neji groaned as he opened his eyes. Was it a dream? His eyes adjusted to their environment, looking around his room. 

Soulless. 

The once colorful walls now mocked him with dull brown and white. Neji whined, burying his head into his bed. His dreams called to him again as his lids started to close. He would have fallen back to sleep if he didn't hear a soft knock at the door. There was no telling how long it took him to get up from his bed, but he eventually did, going to the door. Hinata was about to knock again when the door slowly opened. She didn't know what to say when she saw him. His usually straight perfect hair was a mess. His pale skin seemed even paler, and his eyes. She had never seen his eyes so bare. 

"H-hey, it's almost time to leave for school." 

Neji only nodded and shut the door back, getting into the regular routine of getting dressed for school. Hinata waited outside the door, trying to think of what she was going to say to him. Should she apologize for her father being so rash? He probably wouldn't accept that from her. Should she offer some help again? His voice from yesterday rang in her head. 'I don't need any help.' He most certainly needed help, but how could she do it. Neji's door opened again, and he walked past her without a word. His keys were the only noise coming from him. She followed him close behind until they got to the kitchen. She trotted in front of him, grabbing his hand to pick up his pace. Her father and little sister were still in the kitchen, and the last thing he needed was them berating him again. 

She heard her father call them, but she ignored him. What her father didn't realize was that Hinata was furious with him. How could he do this to Neji, who was now just an empty shell of himself? As soon as they got to the garage, Neji began to move on his own again, unlocking the car and sitting down. It was all so robotic. The car pulled out of the house without a word. What could she do? What could she say? Instead of talking, she came up with a plan. 

Maybe if she could find someone that he trusts enough to talk to, he'll get better. She hoped that if she found a friend or girlfriend, he could let out all this anger that he was keeping bottled up. It was a long shot, though. Neji didn't make new friends often, and it had been years since he had dated anyone. This was going to be difficult. As they pulled into the school, students ran inside from the rain pouring from the sky. Hinata promptly got out of the car; Neji didn't. She waited for him to step entirely out of the vehicle before saying goodbye and running inside. He slowly walked inside, not caring about getting wet. His head was like a heart monitor hooked up to a patient in cardiac arrest. No thoughts ran through his head at the time. He was soaked by the time he made it to class, but he didn't care. Lee and Sasuke were already sitting at their respected seats, with one left in the middle for him. The thought of them even speaking to him made him almost nauseous. He sauntered over to the back of the classroom, sat, and slept. This time, instead of Lee waking him up, Kakashi tapped him on the shoulder. 

"Though I did say you can do whatever you like, I'm sure you have better things to do than sleep." 

Neji sat his head up slowly, his eye adjusting to the bright light of the classroom. He looked up further to find his teacher leaned against the desk next to him with his hands shoved in his pockets. 

"I'm sorry, Mr…" 

"Ah, Ah, No, Mr. or sensei, please." 

Neji blinked, "Okay." He started to get up, grabbing his bag to leave, when Kakashi spoke again.

"You don't seem like the type to sleep through classes. Your dad sure made you out to be a model student if I recall his frantic phone call." 

"He's not my father." 

There was a brief pause, "Hm, sorry, didn't mean insult you."   
Insult? Was he insulted? He had every right to be. Having that bastard compared to his father was inexcusable, but there was no way Kakashi would have known that. "I'm not insulted, he's just…not my father." 

The white-haired male pushed off the desk as Neji started to walk away again. "Maybe you should do what he says." 

"What?" Neji stopped walking and looked at his teacher, who was walking toward him. 

"Do what he says and see how it goes. Maybe things will go back to normal." Kakashi then walked out of the room without another word to him. Do what he says? His uncle wanted him to do something he wanted nothing to do with, but maybe there was some truth in Kakashi's words. As far as his art went, as long as he paid attention in class and got good grades, he could potentially get back everything he lost. It was worth a shot, at least. 

The next month passed like a blur. During that time, Neji was like a different person. Doing exactly what his uncle wanted, he focused just on school and nothing else. He didn't talk to anyone other than a few words to Hinata when needed. His friends were ignored, his art put aside. He was everything his uncle wanted him to be and nothing he wanted to be. Neji was the farthest thing from happy. It took everything he had not to go launching himself off his balcony every night. The thought of going to sleep forever sounded sweeter and sweeter every time he dreamed. In fact, the only time he felt happy was when he was asleep in his dreams. In his dreams, he could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He didn't have to worry about what people expected him to do. He could paint the sky then fly through it. He could picture the mountains and climb them. He could paint rolling fields, thick forests, vast oceans, and no one could tell him to stop. Unfortunately, this had an effect on his sleeping and eating patterns. Because he only felt happy while sleeping, he slept a lot. The more he slept, the less he ate or worked out or did anything for that matter.

Though Hinata was already concerned, when she noticed him visibly lose weight, she became scared. Neji has never ever been this bad before. Throughout the years of her father frustrating him, he would always talk it out, but this time. He was holding everything in, and he could explode if this doesn't get resolved. What made it worse is that her father took no notice of Neji's sudden plummet into darkness. Did he even matter to him? It had taken her longer than she thought to gather enough information to find him, someone. At first, she tried asking different friends of hers if they wanted to talk to him, but his reputation hung over him like a shadow. Her friends she spoke to didn't want to deal with the blizzard that came along with him. Even some of the more desperate ones didn't want to deal with him. So she devised another plan. If she could find a person that was already used to his cold demeanor. Then, maybe, they can get through to him. There was only one girl she knew about that could do that, and she was determined to get her on board.

During Neji's miserable month, he noticed one thing. His psychology partner was nowhere to be found. Now he wasn't necessarily complaining that the kid hadn't shown up for class; he would rather not bother. On the other hand, if Neji failed psychology, he might as well jump off a bridge now because his uncle would kill him. He noticed last week that the redhead would show up for roll but then quickly leave straight after. On the Monday of the sixth week of school, Neji decided that he would follow him. At the very least, if he was a murderer, he might grant Neji the sweet release of death. That day, Neji sat in the back of the class, his now regular seat, where he could see his target. Sure enough, as soon as the roll was called, the redhead got up and left. Neji followed quickly behind.   
"Hey," Neji breathed out. His voice was quieter than he wanted; not talking had really affected his voice. He decided just to tap him on the shoulder if he could; this guy was fast. After a minute of practically chasing the redhead, they both ended up outside, heading toward the woods behind the school. The woods at the back of the school were forbidden to all students. It had an eight-foot chain-link fence to keep students and wildlife from getting in or out. Any student caught even trying to get into the forest immediately would get suspended or expelled depending on the circumstances. At this point, Neji broke into a run to catch up with him; he could not get in trouble because of this. As soon as he was in arms reach, he grabbed his shoulder. Gaara stopped without turning around. Neji didn't think about what to say when he caught up to him. 

"Um, we need to talk," he said, slightly out of breath. He almost cringed at his own cliché line. They both stood there in silence for a minute, making the air around them severely more awkward than it needed to be. 

"In the woods," Gaara said roughly. 

"What?"

"We'll talk in the woods. Don't want to get caught." Gaara began to walk toward the woods again. 

Neji stood there for a second before silently following behind him. Was he really about to follow this guy into the woods? How on earth would they get in? When they got to the gate surrounding the woods, Gaara went to a specific part of the fence secured with zip ties. Gaara dug in his bag and pulled out some scissors, and cut the bindings. He crawled through the hole, then turned and held it open for his pursuer to crawl through. 

Neji hesitated at first but then crawled through the gate along with him. He'd already gone this far. Why not? They walked through the woods silently, the only sounds being that came with the forest. Trees were rustling, birds chirping, random movements of animals fleeing due to their presence. Neji took it all in slowly as they walked. He almost forgot he was following Gaara into a forbidden forest. His jaw almost dropped when they reached a small clearing in the myriad of trees. The sun shone perfectly through the tree branches creating the perfect balance between light and shadow. 

The blowing grass was tall and bright green, contrasting the dark brown patches of dirt spotted randomly on the ground. Perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing was the rotten wooden bench that rested to the left of the clearing. It gave the message that this place had been untouched for years, and it was better for it. Neji was in awe over the entire scene; it would make a beautiful painting. Too bad that would never happen. Unbeknownst to him, Gaara had walked over to the rotting bench and lightly set his bag down. He opened it and pulled out several small glass jars, placing them on the molding wood one by one. The little clicking sound of the glass snapped Neji out of his daze.

At first, his mind went a little wild, thinking that they might be for body parts, but instead of overthinking it, he just asked. "What are those for?" 

Gaara waited until all twenty- four little jars out of his bag before he answered. "Dirt, leaves, sticks, some sand if I'm lucky." 

Neji almost wanted to ask why, but he was too relieved that they weren't for his fingers and eyeballs. The boys both went silent. Neji, standing there while Gaara looked around at his environment. "So, you come here every morning?" 

Gaara only nodded. So this guy almost gets himself suspended every morning for some dirt and sticks. Gaara began to wander around, picking up random bits of twigs and dirt and putting them in the jars. Neji just stood there awkwardly for a moment, watching him. What was he doing here? Was there any real point to all this? 

"Why did you follow me out here?" Gaara's question made Neji jump slightly; he wasn't expecting that. 

"We're partners in class, and you never sent an email or text. You would disappear every morning in class, so I decided to follow you so we could get this assessment done." Gaara stopped for a second, then resumed what he was doing again. "You assumed that I had a computer or a phone to send you these things." 

"I didn't know you didn't have a phone, and the library is always open, so..." 

"I do have a phone." 

"Then why did you not..." 

"To be completely honest, I lost your paper the same day while I was looking for a hole in the fence." 

"Okay?" Neji slowly said, a bit awkwardly. What should he say next? Should he ask about his dead father or his violent past? Maybe he should ask why he's here and not back home. All these questions seemed a bit too personal.

"So...we're supposed to... you know, analyze each other." Gaara stopped and turned to look at Neji. They locked eyes for what seemed like forever until Neji felt too uncomfortable to watch anymore. 

"You seem...broken." 

Neji was slightly taken aback by this statement. He didn't know how to feel or react. Angry? Confused? Maybe he should agree; he wasn't too far off. "The fuck does that mean?" Neji decided to go with anger; Gaara didn't know him and vice visa. Gaara seemed to think about his words more carefully this time. 

"I don't mean to insult you; it's just..." He stopped to think again. 

"You look like you've lost something." 

Gaara resumed putting random stuff in jars while Neji stood there confused. "I've lost things before too." Neji was too shocked he couldn't even speak. Out of everyone, teachers and friends alike, no one could guess what happened to Neji. Well, except for Hinata, but that didn't count in his mind. Everyone would just ask, 'Are you okay' and 'I hope you feel better ' until the question got old, and they all just left him alone. Teachers didn't care because he was acing all of his classes without any trouble. Neji really couldn't figure out if that were a good thing or a bad thing during that time. Did they care too much or not enough? He knew he didn't feel good about it, but now some random person without asking any questions just knew. 

"H-how, how did you." 

"Your eyes are sad, well sadder than when I saw them the first time." 

"Wha..." 

"And your posture is slouched...a lot" Neji hadn't even paid attention to his posture, but he was right. He was very much slouched over. Has he been like that for the past couple of weeks? Neji straightened himself up and thought for a moment. What could he possibly do in this situation? His mind was racing, going immediately into defense mode. His answer to the first question already confirmed that Gaara was right. His continued silence and the awestruck look wasn't helping. Neji took a deep breath; he had to stay calm. 

"So what, I've lost things. So has everybody else in the world. I'm no different. I'll deal with it as everybody else does." 

"I've been broken before. Someone helped me..." 

"I don't need any help." 

"I never said that you did." Both of them stared at each other. Neji was flustered and angry, while Gaara remained the opposite. The wind blew between them before they started talking again. 

"Listen, I just want to get this project done, that's it." 

"And I thought that's what we were doing." 

Gaara resumed doing what he was doing, which was currently scrapping some bark off of a tree. Neji had to gather his thoughts again. The redhead in front of him kept catching him off guard, and it was tough to get back on his feet. Once again, he was right. This was what this project was all about. Gaara merely guested what he was feeling based on his body language and look. The way he responded confirmed what Gaara guessed. Then when Neji got offended by his guess, Gaara tried to move the conversation to himself, but he only got angrier.

In conclusion, he was being an asshole. Neji sighed. He needed to relax. There was no need to make an enemy out of someone he would have to talk to. 

"Listen, I'm sorry. I've had a bit of a rough week…,month actually, and I just...I didn't mean to snap at you." 

"It's alright. There's no way I could have known that you were having a bad day." 

They stood in silence again, "How did you guess the whole 'lost something' thing?" 

Gaara just shrugged, "Lucky guess." 

Neji stared at him with a blank look. "So all that shit about my posture and my eyes were?" 

"Bullshit, at least the posture part was. Your eyes do actually look sad. Like you have lost something." 

Neji couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. It was the first time he laughed in a month. He didn't know if he laughed because of what Gaara said or the fact that he was mentally exhausted. 

"So, um you said you lost something too?" 

"Yes, some important some not, all of them hurt." Neji slowly sat down on a patch of green grass. "And you were able to get them back?" 

The redhead stopped putting some moss in a jar and looked at Neji, who was picking random blades of grass. He picked up one of his empty jars and walked toward him. "No, not necessarily." 

"Then how do you..." Neji looked up to find Gaara squatted down a few feet away from his face. Shocked, he stopped talking and just stared. Gaara put the empty jar in front of him, glancing down at the severed blades of grass in his hand. Understanding the notion, Neji sprinkled the blades of grass into the small bottle. 

"Somethings were impossible to get back." Gaara stood and walked back to his bag. "Somethings were easy. Somethings I got help."   
Neji snorted at his answer, "That was more bullshit, wasn't it?"   
This time it was Gaara's turn to snort out a laugh. "It was bullshit with a bit of truth sprinkled on top."   
Neji smiled at this. He didn't know if it was the beautiful environment or Gaara weird manner of speech. Maybe it was because he subconsciously was sick of being alone, but he was somewhat comfortable for the first time in a month. Sure, he still had his trust issues and was only giving Gaara the most minimal information he could. He could even see them becoming friends with time. He was very weird, and his manner of speech was kind of broken or maybe just short. The only problem arose that he could back Neji into a corner within seconds without even thinking about it. If he didn't play his cards right, this Gaara could get him to say whatever he wanted through clever wording. 

Gaara started to put all the jars back in his bag and slipped it over his shoulders. "We should probably head back to the school before classes let out." 

Neji stood up, stretching out his back. "Yeah, good idea." They both walked back in silence through the way they came, but this time it was different. The air around them was neutral, no longer awkward or tense. During the walk back, Neji thought about one thing and one thing only. The one thing he had denied himself for so long.  
Just before they made it into the school, Neji stopped Gaara from walking in. "Hey, that help that you got. Did it really work?" 

Gaara paused for a moment, "I have some good days and bad days, but yeah, it defiantly helped." 

Neji thought about his words carefully. He didn't want to sound too desperate. "Do you think you could...I mean, I don't know who...well." 

"Do you have a sheet of paper?" Gaara interrupted. 

"Uh, yeah." Neji dug in his bag to pull out his only sketchbook and a pencil. Gaara took the book and began to write something down. 

"Meet me here next Monday after school. I can introduce you." Neji only glanced at the words before putting his book back in his bag. 

"Thanks." 

Gaara once again nodded, opening the doors to the school. Classes hadn't been let out yet, so the halls were pretty empty. Gaara walked off to the left, only giving a small wave as a goodbye. Neji waved his hand in response even though the redhead couldn't see him and made his way to the library to sit until classes changed. 

Digging through his bag again, he pulled out his book and looked at the writing just added. Nothing but an address was written down with surprisingly elegant handwriting. Neji had concluded that Gaara was a mystery that would take time to solve, but the one thing he did figure out. It burned through his mind over and over again. The one thing that gave him the courage to trust a complete stranger just a little bit. Help. He accepted that he needed help. It was the one thing that Gaara made him realize in the woods, and if he didn't get it soon, there was no telling where he would end up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a few more things k
> 
> 1) Just because two people are paired in this project does not mean they will end up together. I feel like that needs to be said.
> 
> 2) I gave Gaara an accent but didn't really write it in as an accent. I find reading accents to be a bit difficult not to mention writing one. This might be a lazy cop-out but feel free to insert any accent you like. Just know that people from different villages/cities will not speak in the same dialect as one another.
> 
> And that's it, first chapter. Please let me know what you think. This story is on fanfiction as well under the same names. There is an extra chapter up on that site, so if you want to read ahead feel free. (I am correcting some stuff though so it be worth the wait) I kinda just write for fun and to de-stress so it's defiantly not perfect. There are probably a TON of mistakes, feel free to let me know about them. Thank you so so much for reading.


	2. Lows and Highs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, How's it going. Welcome back!
> 
> WARNING: This story hits pretty hard on depression and thoughts of suicide.

Neji silently followed Gaara toward the woods again for the second time this week. He hadn't come with him since Monday after a particularly bad week. Tuesday was okay, but Wednesday, it pained him just to remember it.  
\-----------------------  
Sitting on his bed, Neji found it hard not to slip into dark thoughts. What was he to do? Nothing was helping. He'd tried to find a new hobby, a new obsession, but nothing worked. Television bored him. The more he watched, the more he felt like he was rotting away. Music only reminded him of his paintings. Certain songs made him want to pick up a brush and paint what he saw, but he couldn't. He would go on long walks. Very very long walks, but the environment was so beautiful, subtly changing from summer to fall. He couldn't do anything to capture that. Sketching only lasted so long. His final sketchbook was almost already full when everything was taken. What was he to do?

It had been a little over a month since his uncle took away his soul. How long would it take for him to get it back? Should he ask? All pros and cons weighed in his head, playing out over and over. If he asked and it went well, he could get his soul back; be his self again. There was also the opposite. If his uncle said no, could he handle it? Neji looked over to his balcony as he had done more and more these days. It would be so easy to just... Neji smacked his palm against his forehead over and over.

"That's not the answer. That's not the answer. That's not the answer," Neji hushed to himself.

He got up from his bed and trudged over to his nightstand, opening the drawer at the front. A small black coded lockbox sat there, the numbers worn from use. Opening the box, it was filled with photos of him and his father in several different locations worldwide. Neji fell back on his bed, flipping through the pictures one by one. Each one made him smile, almost bringing tears to his eyes.

"Where would we be if you were still here?" A harsh knock on the door caused him to jump. He quickly put the photos back, rubbed his eyes, and answered the door. His uncle stood there, staring directly at him.

"Neji, I would like to congratulate you on your grades and your behavior as of late." He walked past Neji into his room. "It seems that that hobby of yours was causing more damage than I thought."

What? Could he not see him? Was his suffering not evident to him? Neji decided against saying anything; he wouldn't listen.

"I realize that you have been feeling a bit down since I took away your drawings, but I feel like these are just mild withdrawal symptoms. You must be strong and stick it out."

"What did you need uncle, I was about to start studying for a test." A lie, but he didn't care. He just wanted his uncle out of his room.

"Ah, well, let me cut to the chase then. I would like you to meet with some of my colleges at the office on Monday after school. I feel like it would be quite educational for you."

"I have somewhere to be Monday," Neji stated flatly.

"Oh? And where would that be?"

In all honesty, he didn't know. He refrained himself from looking up the address so he couldn't convince himself not to go. "Just meeting with my psychology partner. We haven't had time to talk much at school so..." he lied again.

"Ah, well as long as it's for school, I suppose that's acceptable, but I would like to set up a time to reschedule." Hiashi made his way back over to the door.

The question about his soul burned through his brain and out his lips before he could control it. "W-when will I be able to have them back? My paintings, I mean."

It seemed like an eternity before his uncle answered. "I don't think I will be giving them back for a while, Neji. You are doing so well in school, and I would hate for that to regress."

His uncle left his room, closing the door behind him. Neji stood, staring at the door.

"I shouldn't have asked," he whispered to himself. Was all this for nothing?

"I shouldn't have asked," he said a little louder. His brain was starting to fall apart.

"I shouldn't have asked." His voice was shaking, he couldn't breathe, couldn't see straight.

He swiftly turned toward his balcony, ripping open the doors. He leaned over the railing, his grip on it became his knuckles white. It was at least a thirty-foot drop to the ground; that would do it, right? He leaned a bit further. What if this didn't work? It could just severely damage him. He let out a harsh breath, his face wet from tears. Damage or not, anything would be better than this. The wind blew against his face like it was pushing him back. He leaned against the wind. Almost there...

"N-Neji?"

He jumped at the soft voice that came behind him. He turned toward Hinata quickly then looked around his surroundings. What was he doing? What was he thinking? Backing away from the balcony slowly, he ghosted over to his bed, sitting down slowly.  
Hinata took a step toward him, "I-I brought you some dinner. Are you hungry?"

Neji shook his head slowly. He wasn't hungry at all. In fact, he felt sick to his stomach. Hinata slowly walked over to his bed and set the tray of food on his end table. She sat down next to him, wrapping her arm around his shaking shoulders. "Do you want to talk about it?" Neji stared at the floor. It wasn't fair, not to her.

"No..." he said, his voice shaking slightly.

It was another lie. One that Neji pained to say down to the bottom of his heart. She sat for a minute, hoping that he would change his mind, but he didn't. Sighing, she got up and left the room. When the door closed softly behind him, he looked up at his balcony again. What just happened could never happen again. Something had to be done.  
\-----------------------  
Neji shook his head at the memory. It was now Friday, and he honestly still didn't feel the greatest, but he couldn't avoid this project. Just like before, Gaara led him past the gate and into the same clearing. He sat near the bench on the same patch of green grass while Gaara took out his jars again. Neither of them said a word to each other. Neji thought about asking him about the location written in his sketchbook, but he didn't want to find any reason to talk himself out of it. He began to pick at the grass again until Gaara stopped and spoke.

"Did something happen?" Neji looked up at Gaara, who was staring at him, his face as blank as ever.

"No," he said, sternly looking back down at the ground.

"Hmm..." Gaara started to continue what he was doing until he stopped again. "I think we should come to an agreement."

"What," he bit back a bit too harsh.

"What I mean is...we have to talk more."

Neji stared at him for a second, "Why?" He knew the reason why, but for some reason, he felt confrontational. He just wasn't into the mood.

"Nothing will get done."

He sighed through his nose. There wasn't any reason to get mad or frustrated any further. Gaara was right.

"And how do you propose we do that?"

The shorter male stopped digging in the dirt and looked over to him. "Twenty questions...minus fifteen."

Neji stared at him for a second. Why word it like that? "So, five questions?"

"Yes."

"Okay..."

The redhead began to dig through the grass and dirt again, "There are rules."

Neji raised an eyebrow, "Rules?"

"Yes."

He waited a minute for Gaara to elaborate, but he never did.  
"Like," he growled lightly?

"If you're unconformable, don't answer."

"That it," he grumbled, slightly more annoyed, frustrated with his manner of speaking?

"More or less."

Neji just stared at him again. He watched as Gaara dug his fingers through the slightly wet dirt. The redhead picked up a worm and brought it up to his eye level, watching it wiggle and writhe in his figures. Seeing the creature helplessly wiggle made Neji's skin crawl. He felt like that worm. As Gaara slowly put it back in the dirt, Neji looked back down at the grass, picking at random blades again. The world around him, filled with the sounds of the forest. Focussing on that was nice.

"When would you like to start?" Gaara said, tearing him out of the lull the forest sounds put him in.

"Start what?"

"Questions."

"Not today."

"That's fine."

Neji stood. He didn't want to be here anymore. "I'm going to go."

Gaara stood as well. "It would be better if we went together."

"It's only thirty minutes into class time, you don't have to..."

"Less risk can come with sacrifices." He began to put his jars back in his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He walked away, while Neji stood still watching him go. He felt a little guilty not only because he was making him leave, but because of his nasty attitude. 

"W-we can sta-"

"I can come back at a later time or date. It's fine." There was no hint of anger or annoyance in his voice.

Neji only nodded and followed behind. As they made their way past the gate and back down to the school, Neji spoke up. "I... I um. Monday, is there anything I need to know about?"

Gaara stopped before the doors and looked at him again, this time more at his clothes. "Don't wear anything fancy. The more beat up, the better."

Neji tilted his head to the side slightly but didn't ask about it. "Okay?"

They both walked inside the school building; Gaara walked off without saying another word. Neji stood for a minute but then decided it would be best to just go back to class and maybe lay his head down for the rest of the period. He walked back into the classroom, making his way to his now regular spot in the back of the class. Unfortunately for him, Lee spotted him and decided now was the time to talk to him. Before he could even fully settle into the seat, Lee was at his side. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking. His voice was quieter than usual.

"Hey Neji, how have you been?"

Neji didn't respond. He finished putting his bag down, then laid his head on the desk. "Neji, if you need someone to talk to, I..."

"Lee, I don't want to talk to you," he said coldly.

He was in no mood to deal with anyone today, especially Lee. Though Lee was slightly taken aback by this, he didn't falter. "Well, maybe Ten Ten or Sasuke then. You must talk to someone, this isn't healthy. Maybe you could..."

"Lee," Neji said, sitting his head up.

Lee almost looked excited for a moment, "Yes?"

"Go away. I don't want to talk to anyone. I don't want to see anyone. I just want to be left alone." He wanted to glare at him, scare him into leaving, but he couldn't bring himself to even look at him. It hurt too much. "Please just go."

Lee nodded, "I'm always here," he whispered before walking away. Neji once again felt awful. It's not like he didn't want to vent, yell, and scream, but that wasn't him. He didn't like divulging his problems to others, nor wanted to burden them with those problems. He would deal with this on his own; in his own way.

Hinata walked quickly through the school with her mission in mind.   
If she didn't hurry, her target would escape, and she would have to try again. Due to her cousin's new attitude, her routine had been broken, and she went home a lot quicker than usual. Pushing through the mass of students has been proving difficult, and she had lost her several times because of it. It took her a week just to figure out her regular parking spots and another two to attempt to catch her before she left. This time she was more determined than ever. 

In the past month, Neji hadn't been eating all that well, so she made it a point to bring him food to help him out. Last week, when she came into the room, he was at his balcony leaned over the railing farther than any person should be bending over it. When she called his name, he startled, quickly standing back straight like nothing happened. His eyes were red and puffy like he'd been crying. His voice was shaky and cracked when he would talk. She cried for him that night. The next night she noticed that the balcony door was secured with a heavy chain and padlock. She had her suspicions of suicidal thoughts with him, but seeing his balcony locked confirmed it. Usually, she would tell her father, but he was the main problem, which threw that plan out the window. She could confront a teacher, but Neji was, despite his situation, an outstanding actor. He could convince them there was nothing wrong in a heartbeat, and they wouldn't look twice about it. Even if they didn't believe his acting, all they could do is tell her father, which brings her step one. So that left her with her original plan. Find someone that he could talk to about her father possibly find him a girlfriend if need be. As she made her way out to the parking lot, she saw her target's car and her mark. She was about to get in her car after talking to what looked like Lee. Hinata broke into a run. She had to catch up to her no matter what. Just as the car was beginning to pull off, Hinata slammed her hand on the side of the passenger side window. Ten-Ten jumped in her seat, almost hitting the roof of her car. Gathering herself, she rolled down the window.

"Hey, Hinata. How's it going?"

"Can I..." She breathed; all that running made her out of breath. 

"Can I talk to you for a second, please. I'll try not to take up to much of your time."

Ten-Ten stared for a minute before nodding her head, "Y-yeah sure, come on in."

She unlocked the car for Hinata to sit down. "Do you want some water? I have some in the back."

"No, I'm okay. Thank you for offering though."

"Yeah, sure." The air was a bit awkward between them for a minute. 

Though Neji and Ten-Ten were good friends, Hinata didn't interact with her other than a few greetings.

"So, you uh…wanted to talk about something?"

Hinata nodded slightly, trying to shake away the nerves. She realized coming up with a plan and carrying it out were two different mediums. How should she start this? "Um, well, i-it's about Neji. I wanted to talk about Neji."

"Yeah? You know Lee and I were just talking about him. He's been overly cold lately, doesn't even want to talk to me anymore. Did something happen?"

Hinata hesitated. Once she told her there was no going back. If Neji found out about this, she could lose him forever, but if she didn't, she could also lose him forever. The potential for him to be helped was more critical. "My...My father took away Neji's paintings."

Ten-Ten's eyes widened, "What?"

"Not just the painting but his supplies to make new ones as well."

"Hmm, no wonder he's been pretty down lately, but, I mean, it seems like that's something he'd get over, right? Neji's never seemed like one to hold on to things like that."

"You don't understand! Neji's paintings are, well." What were they to him? How could she describe it?

"Painting is Neji's light. It's everything to him. It's the way he talks. It's the way he expresses himself. The way he blows off steam, the way he travels, the way he connects with his..." She stopped. Going on could reveal a bit too much. Ten-Ten could only stare in awe. She never knew it was that important. "Taking away Neji's paintings is like taking away his soul. It's hurting him. If we don't do something, then I don't know what will happen to him."

Ten-Ten sighed through her nose and sat back in her seat. This was a lot to take in. "So..." Ten-Ten stopped to think about what she could say, but no words came out.

"I'm sorry. This is a lot to take in, but I really need your help. I can't help him alone."

Ten-Ten nodded slowly, "Okay, y-yeah, Of course, I'll help. So, what are we going to do? Steal the painting stuff back."

Hinata had to think about what she said next. She couldn't just say, 'I want you to try and be his girlfriend so he can vent about my father.' "I was thinking of something a little subtler. Maybe if you can just talk to him more or take him to more places. Defiantly not leave him by himself as much."

"Whoa whoa whoa, don't leave him alone? What does that mean? You don't think he's...you know? He can't be that bad, right?"

"No! No," Hinata said quickly, maybe a little too quickly.

Ten-Ten wasn't stupid. From what she could gather, Neji was in trouble. But why come to her about this? Why not get an adult for the situation?

"T-there's an art show coming to town next weekend. Do...do you think you can take him?"

Ten-Ten didn't respond.

"I-if money's an issue I can pay for your tickets. My father gives us an allowance every month s-so I have plenty."

"Why can't you take him? I mean, I'm happy to, really. But why me?"  
Hinata fidgeted in the seat. How on earth is Neji able to do this day in and day out? She sighed, "I don't think he wants to talk to me or even be around me right now."

"Hinata, you're like his favorite person. Why would he not..."  
Hinata just shook her head, "He doesn't want to talk to me, and he won't talk to anybody he doesn't know, so you're well..."

Ten-Ten placed a hand on her shoulder, "Okay, I get it. I'll take him."

"Thank you."

They both fell awkwardly silent. "Um, do you think you could buy those tickets, though? I don't have a job, so..."

"It's fine. I'll get them." Hinata began to get out of the car. "Thank you again. I'll give you the tickets on Monday."

"Okay, cool. Yeah." Ten-Ten watched as Hinata quietly closed the door and walked away. From her understanding, Neji was in trouble, and Hinata was reluctant to go to an adult about it. She decided to play along for right now, but she would have to go to a higher power if things got out of hand.

The weekends were always extremely difficult for Neji. He just couldn't process what to do. Usually, the weekends were great, painting with little interruption. Now he often found himself sitting on his bed staring at the walls or just sleeping. Currently, he was staring up at his off-white ceiling, getting lost in its abyss. His mind didn't go anywhere; thoughts never wondered. They had nowhere to go. The sound of his stomach growling brought ideas back to his brain. He was hungry but didn't feel like getting up. Eating was never his top priority even before all this mess; now, it was even lower on his list. Most of the time, he felt sick or nauseous. Just the thought of food made him want to vomit, but there were times when his stomach betrayed his mind. His body was numb or maybe asleep; he couldn't really tell.

A little, squeezing pain shot through his gut as his stomach moaned again. He groaned but didn't move. The ache in his stomach was causing the numbness to fade away. Slowly, he moved his hand to his stomach and grabbed it, hoping the pressure would cause the feeling to go away. The sensation of his ribs under his fingertips made him squeeze harder. Only a month ago, there was a solid wall of muscle that would have made it difficult to even feel his ribs, but now he could probably play the xylophone with ease on his bones. Another pain twisted through his abdomen, making him cringe. He slowly sat up from his bed, still gripping his stomach.

"Trader," he growled as he moved out of his bed. He made his way down to the kitchen, still grabbing at his gut.

When he made it to the kitchen, he saw Hinata already cooking something. Was it really that late for her to be cooking dinner? He never really kept track of time anymore. Not wanting to bother her or rather talk to her, he turned to leave the kitchen; he'd come back later.

"Neji?"

He stopped without thinking.

"A-are you hungry? I can make you a plate if you like?"

Neji stared back at her with hollow eyes. He wanted to go back upstairs and endure the hunger, but once again, his stomach betrayed him growling loudly. Hinata put down the pan and turned off the burner. She walked over to him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him to the bar attached to the kitchen.

"Sit down, I'll get you a plate."

Neji slowly pulled out one of the stools and sat down. He almost prided himself in completely ignoring Hinata for the past month, but somehow, he couldn't bring himself to leave. He heard her rustle through cabinets then the scraping of the pan. When she placed the plate in front of him, he could only smirk. Stir-fried soba noodles with vegetables and beef, close to one of his favorites. She sat next to him with a plate of her own

"I would have put herring in it, but I didn't know you were hungry."

"That's fine," he whispered back softly.

They ate in silence; Neji was slower than Hinata. She was done with her plate before he made it a quarter of a way through his. By that time, he just picked at the plate.

"I'm sorry," Hinata sighed suddenly. Neji only looked over to her with a bit of confusion.

"I kind of piled it on," she said, nodding toward his Neji could respond she started talking again. "I just got so excited that you came down to eat, and I didn't want to give you too little and..."

"It's okay, Hinata." There was almost a hint of humor in his voice. He missed her rambling, her voice.

"I miss you," she whispered, stealing the thoughts right out of his head. He missed her, too, but this was for the best.

"I um..."

"Well, look who crawled out of his hole."

Both Neji and Hinata looked up to see Hanabi at the bottom of the stairs looking up from her phone.

"Hanabi please...," Hinata tried to say before more words came through Hanabi's mouth to no avail.

"You know, whatever this is that you doing, you should get over it."  
Neji only glared then got up to leave. He didn't want to deal with this right now. He moved to go back up the stairs, but Hanabi got in the way. "You're a selfish prick, you know that."

Neji sneered at her. "Fuck off, Hanabi," he growled, moving past her.

"I'd tell you the same thing if you hadn't been doing that all month," she said, raising her voice slightly. Neji only continued up the stairs.

"Your behavior doesn't just affect you, you know," she yelled as he disappeared.

"Asshole," she growled under her breath, sitting down where Neji was and began picking at what was left of his food.

"Why do you have to be so mean to him? You know he's having a hard time right now," Hinata said sternly, looking at her sister.

"He needs to grow up and move on like any normal person would do," Hanabi snapped.

"You just don't understand..."

"You're right, I don't understand," she yelled! "I don't understand why he's acting this way. I don't understand why he can't see that it hurts us, too, and I really really don't understand how to help him."  
Hinata looked at her sister in shock. It sounded like Hanabi was about to cry. She wrapped one arm around Hanabi's shoulders and pulled her toward her until Hanabi's head rested on her shoulder. "I don't know how either, but I'm going to figure it out, okay? Just try to be nicer to him while he's going through this." She felt her younger sister nod against her shoulder. Hanabi was a tough girl. There was hardly a time when she was openly sad like she was now, but it was nice to know that she cared.

"Let me know if I can help," Hanabi murmured softly. Hinata only nodded, holding her sister close for the time being.

Monday couldn't have come soon enough. After the incident with Hanabi, Neji just stayed in his room for the rest of the weekend. He didn't want to run into her again, not knowing if he would be able to control his words or actions while around her. Despite being locked in his room all day Sunday, he was in a better mood than he had been that last week. He didn't know if it was Hinata or maybe the mysterious place he was going to, but he felt more normal. As he went through his usual routine, he made sure to grab an extra set of old clothes for this whatever it was he was doing after school. 

Everything played out as a typical morning for him. He waited in the car for Hinata, drove them both to school then went to his psychology class without a word to anyone. After roll was called, Gaara got up to leave, and Neji followed him. They walked silently outside to the usual hole in the fence. Gaara did as he did the two times before opening the spot and holding it open for Neji to crawl through. He was still always taken aback by the sheer beauty of the forest. He never really looked at where they were going because he was too busy looking at his surroundings. Maybe one day he could capture it. They made their way to the same clearing they always go to. Gaara walked off with one jar in his hand while Neji laid down by the bench in the grass, letting the blades tickle his face and arms.

"Would you like to start the questions today?" He heard Gaara say from a distance.

"I'm fine with that," Neji droned out. He didn't really want to, but he might as well get this over with. Five questions couldn't be too hard.

"Would you like to start?" Gaara asked.

"No, you go ahead." This was more of a test than him being polite. He wanted to see how personal Gaara was going to go with these questions. He could always refuse to answer if he went to private, but it also gave him the opening to ask something just as personal. There was a long silence for a while before Gaara spoke again.

"What's your favorite color?"

If Neji weren't already lying down, he would have hit the floor. Favorite color? What kind of question was that? Neji sat up on his elbows and looked at the redhead with a confused look, but Gaara wasn't even facing him.

"Um, hmm..."

Now that he thought about it, what was his favorite color? He loved all colors and the words they spoke. If he had to come down to it, he really liked the color purple. It was a rarity in nature, making it stand out beautifully no matter what you put it in. He loved how mysterious it could make a painting and somehow brought peace and wisdom. But the color purple wasn't enough. There were so many different shades of purple to choose from, each holding their own place and meaning. The actual color purple was much too saturated for his liking, while something like lavender wasn't saturated enough. Violet was much too dark, plum held too much red, and heather might as well be gray with some hints of purple mixed in. Neji sat up fully and began to pick at the grass, racking his brain through all the different shades he could choose from. Neji didn't realize Gaara was looking at him with slight amusement on his face. He turned away just as Neji looked up with an answer.

"Orchid," he said, seeming finite in his decision.

"A flower?"

"Yes, it's a flower, but it's also a shape of purple." To be honest, Neji found it hard picking between orchid and amethyst, but amethyst was just a gentle touch too dark for his liking.

"Alright, your turn then."

Neji scratched at his chin. He was so busy trying to think of his favorite color that he forgot to think of a question for Gaara. Thanks to his fundamental question, Neji didn't feel comfortable asking anything personal.

"Uh, what's your favorite food?" He felt stupid, not thinking of anything better, but they had to start somewhere.

"Spicy duck tongue and gizzards are really nice."

Neji immediately regretted asking as he put on a face of disgust. He couldn't be serious, right? Maybe this guy was a murderer because only murderers could possibly like something that sounded so vile. And it was spicy too. To this day, Neji never understood people who loved or even tolerated hot dishes. Why would anyone want the feeling of their mouth and insides burning like a fiery furnace?

"Do you like animals?" Gaara said, snapping Neji out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, I like them." Neji had entirely no problems with animals. In fact, he would own one if his uncle didn't think it would be a distraction. He especially loved painting them. They made an environment more real and added a particular type of movement that helped a painting flow. Gaara didn't need to know all of that, though. Once again, it was Neji's turn to ask the next question, and once again, he really didn't have anything to ask.

"Do you like Tv, or have a favorite television show?"

Neji felt like he was back in elementary school, where teachers would try to force friendships by asking stupid basic questions. Honestly, he didn't care about the answer to this one; he didn't like television. Most kids his age couldn't stop going on and on about the next new show that just aired or a returning season of whatever the hell. Neji never understood the craze behind it. Why watch television when he could paint. Ten-Ten would call him a grumpy old man when he complained about having to watch a show with her. Gaara stopped snapping twigs off of trees and tilted his head to the side. Neji figured he was racking his brain through different shows, much like he did with the color question.

"I don't watch television at all. It's just so…"

"Boring," Neji finished his sentence without thinking.

Gaara nodded and looked over to him, "Predictable."

"A waste of time."

"There are more important things."

"Exactly." The silence drew over the two boys again.

Neji was kind of shocked that someone his age had the same opinion as him and didn't know what to say afterward. The sounds of the forest filled his ears again. Even though he was a bit anxious about these questions, he felt relaxed. In fact, this was the only place where he felt relaxed now and days.

"Time of the year."

Neji looked up at him. "Time of the year?"

"A season."

Oh, he was asking was his favorite season. That was another hard question. Much like color, he loved each season because they spoke their own words. Once again, it depended on which one he liked painting more when it came down to it. Summer and winter were defiantly out. When it came to Konoha, these two seasons were the most boring, only showing off two primary colors, white and green. Spring and fall, though, that was hard to choose from. Both offered a plethora of colors and practically transforming the entire environment. He found it funny that spring brought forth such cool colors: blues, purples, greens, while fall provided warmer tones: yellows, reds, oranges, but the temperature was doing the opposite. Once again, he couldn't decide.

"Um, spring or fall. It doesn't matter which." He started picking at the grass again.

By the end of the year, the place he sat would become barren if he didn't stop. Gaara didn't respond to his answer, which seemed to mean he was satisfied with the response.

"Do you listen to music or have a favorite type." Another fundamental question, but they really haven't gone past the basics.

"Modern classical of any form is fine."

Neji looked up from the grass. "Really? Like who? What composer?"  
Gaara turned and looked at Neji; curiosity was hinting on his face. 

"Thomas Bergerson. The song promise is...nice."

Neji hadn't heard of that composer, but he might check him out.  
"I suppose you like the same?"

Neji nodded, "Zack Hemsey."

Gaara smirked, nodded then turned back around. Neji didn't expect to have anything in common with Gaara. In fact, he imaged they would be extreme opposites. It was weird having someone like the same things he did. No one his age really liked the same things he was into, not even Hinata. He didn't get to talk about music or go into great detail about his paintings because no one cared that much about it or just didn't understand. He wondered if Gaara knew anything about painting or art in general.

"We should head back," Gaara said, packing his jars back in his bag.

"We haven't gotten to five yet."

"I've learned enough for today."

Neji was slightly confused by this. What did he learn from all this? Maybe the same things he did, that they had some things in common. They began to walk out of the woods in silence until Neji's curiosity got the better of him. "What exactly did you learn?"

Gaara stopped. "Nothing much, to be honest, I didn't quite know what to ask you. I had no thoughts in my head."

"But, you said you learned something?"

"You like art, don't you or at least some form of it?" 

How on earth did he gather that? The questions were so basic, elementary even. What could have possibly given him that impression? "Why would you say that?" Neji didn't want to give a yes or a no.

"Most people don't think so hard about a favorite color or season."  
Damn, he was right. Not many people think for five whole minutes about something as simple as a color. Seasons are usually chosen because of temperature or allergies, not on what looked more pleasing to the eye on canvass. Well, there was no use in hiding it now.

"I paint environments." He wasn't going to go as far as to tell him that he could no longer do so. That shouldn't matter to him. He looked up to Gaara to find him, to his surprise, smiling a small, almost unnoticeable smile.

"I would like to read them one day. If you wouldn't mind."

This time the shock on Neji's face was utterly apparent. His eyes wide and mouth agape. Did he really care about that? Did it matter? It's not like he would be able to see them anytime soon. What did he mean by read them? "Uh, sure." It was all he could say as they both continued to walk back to the school.

For some odd reason, Neji was in deep thought about the questions and answers from this morning. Maybe there was more to these questions than what he was thinking? Gaara was able to deduct the most crucial thing about Neji through some fundamental questions. All Neji got was that they had only two things in common. There had to be more behind his answers. Neji was now leaning against his car, looking up to the white billowy clouds floating by.

"Doesn't like television, modern classical and salted tongue," he whispered to himself. His face contorted into a grimace when he remembered his answer to the food question.

"Disgusting," he growled out.

"What's disgusting?" Neji jumped slightly and looked in front of him.

Ten-Ten was standing there with a small smirk on her face. 

"Nothing," Neji said shortly, looking away from her. He didn't want to talk to her and was honestly a little upset that she interrupted his thoughts.

"So, uh, I wanted to ask you something?"

"What?"

She pulled her bag around to her front and dug into one of the pockets, pulling out a small paper slip. "I know you've been kind of down lately, and I want to help so here."

Neji took the slip of paper from her hand and looked at it. It was a ticket to an art show very specifically for environmental painters. 

"Since you didn't go to that party, I figured we could go to something that you liked, you know. So, I got these."

He looked to see that she also had a ticket in her hand. It seemed like a waste. Ten-Ten wouldn't enjoy something like this, nor would he enjoy going with her. Yes, it was better to go to these things with someone, but it needed to be someone that also enjoyed or respected the craft. It was either that or they just take one look, say it's pretty, and move on. He did want to go through. Maybe he could wander off on his own without her noticing.

"Thanks, I'll go," he said quietly.

Ten-Ten jumped with joy, "Awesome! Then I'll see you next weekend," she said, practically bouncing away.

Neji stared at the ticket in his hand, then Ten-Ten bouncing away. Maybe he shouldn't go.

"Hey, Neji." He turned to find Hinata on the other side of the car. He didn't say anything, just unlocked the car and sat inside. Hinata was fidgety in the car again. It had become commonplace for their car rides.

"Um, w-what did Ten-Ten want to talk to you about?"

Neji shook his head, "Just an art show," he said flatly.  
"Oh, I bet you'll really enjoy that. Maybe there will be an artist there that you'll like."

"Hmm," was his only response. He knew Hinata had something to do with this, but he didn't want to make her upset. Maybe this was her vision of helping him. Speaking of that, "I going to drop you off at the house today, I've got to be somewhere."

"Oh, where are you going?"

"I don't know."

Though she probably didn't see it this way, what he said was the complete and utter truth. "Oh, okay," Hinata said sadly.  
They went silent for the rest of the ride home. As Hinata got out of the car, Neji stopped her. "Hey, I wasn't lying earlier. I really don't know where I'm going."

"Y-you're coming back, right?"

Neji seemed to think for a minute. Would he come back? "I don't know."

Hinata nodded, "Just be safe, okay?"

"Okay."

She stared at him for a second before walking inside the house. Plugging the address into his GPS, Neji pulled out of the garage to head in the right direction. As he drove his and the arrival time grew shorter and shorter, his anxiety began to shoot through the roof. The environment started to shift around him from the large houses and people walking their dogs on the sidewalk to nothing but trees and a long windy road with no people in sight. Neji took a deep breath and blew it out of his mouth.

"It's okay," he said to himself. "This is meant to help."

The grip on his steering wheel increased as he drove up on the first man-made thing he's seen in the past ten minutes. A large gate easily twenty feet tall stretched as far on both sides. As he pulled up further, a sizeable wooden sign clearly carved from a tree trunk came into view. 'Kohana Forest Animal Sanctuary' was cut into it with a picture of a raccoon and owl below the letters. Neji stopped just to stare at what was in front of him. An animal sanctuary? Was he in the right place? Neji slowly drove up to the gate where a call box was located. He hesitantly pressed the button, waiting for someone to answer.

"Hello, how can I help you?" A woman answered through the intercom.

"Um, I was told to come here by Gaara Sabaku. My name is Neji Hyuga."

"Huh? Why would he? Hold on." The intercom went silent.  
Neji squeezed the steering wheel again; it squeaked under pressure. He could feel his palms begin to sweat, and his heart rate increase. Maybe he should turn around. It didn't sound like he was supposed to be here. After a minute, Neji almost did just that until the intercom came back on.

"Listen, Neji, I'm going to let you through. Just drive straight until you hit the main building. Okay?"

"Uh, sure."

A loud, buzzing noise rang through his ears, and the massive gate began to pull open. Neji rolled through the gate slowly. The road changed from gray concrete to brown dirt and gravel. There wasn't much to see as he drove, just more trees the occasional fence here and there. A large white building came into view, where a familiar shade of red became to make itself apparent. Gaara was leaning up against a wall still in his school uniform, staring at nothing-in-particular. Neji parked the car and walked up to him, paying attention to his surroundings. Though the forest was nothing new, the sounds coming from it were very strange. Squeaks, roars, and bellows of different animals filled his ears.

Neji gave a small wave, "Hey."

"Hello."

They stood in awkward silence for a second. "So, an animal sanctuary?"

Gaara nodded, "The one that helped me is here."

"Hmm." The amount of awkward Neji felt shot through the roof. These surroundings were not as calming as the forest at school, and Gaara's straightforward manner of speech wasn't helping. Gaara simply turned and opened the door.

"We should probably change first," he said, holding the door open for Neji.

Neji only nodded and followed behind him. The front of the building was large and a clean front lobby, reception area. The colors were in his eye's odd. It was all too white; it reminded him of a hospital. 

The only different tone was the baseboard trim and the furniture. It was dull and downright clashed with the colors outside. It immediately put a frown on Neji's face. Gaara walked toward two double doors that said 'employees only' the receptionist looked up from her computer.

"Gaara, can you please let me know next time you bring a guest. I don't want to hunt you down again."

He nodded in response, "I apologize, I will let you know next time," he stated as he went through the double doors. The strange noises of birds squawking and other random animal noises were overwhelming as they passed by several rooms with cages for different sorts of animals. It also didn't smell too great either.  
Both boys entered a locker room, Neji setting his bag on one of the many benches. Gaara opened one of the lockers, took out a pair of clothes, and began to unbutton the collared shirt he was wearing. 

Neji just stared without really realizing what he was doing. "There are private changing rooms beyond those doors if you more conformable."

Neji shook head and began to unbutton his shirt as well. He had no problem changing in front of another guy. Several years of gym taught him that, but he turned around never the less. Neji changed into an old black t-shirt and some worn jeans while Gaara wore a forest green t-shirt with the same signage as tree stump out front and some old jeans.

"So, you work here?"

"Only for a little over a month."

"Right before starting school?" Gaara nodded, then held his hand out. "I can put your bag in my locker."

Neji nodded, stuffing his school clothes into the bag and handing it off. After putting it in the locker, Gaara headed for the door again.  
"If you follow me, I'll introduce you."

Neji followed him out of the locker room and down another hallway. They passed by a few people that he didn't recognize even though they would wave hello as they passed. Neji would only slightly bow his head in response. Gaara finally stopped at a door that had the word 'Procyonidae' on the front. He opened it once again, holding the door open for Neji to go first. He walked in only to step to the side for Gaara to make his way through. 

Looking around the room, it was full of giant metal cages that lined both sides of the room, leaving a vertical path straight to another door. The room was mostly silent other than a few shuffles here and there, and a weird growling noise coming from the far back left enclosure in the room. Neji leaned in to see if any other animals were in the cages, but they all seemed to be empty other than that one. Gaara walked over to the cage while Neji hesitantly followed. The noises from the pen didn't seem friendly at all. Gaara kneeled in front of the cage; the sounds changed from growling and hissing to noisy chatter. Neji walked over to him and kneeled next to Gaara, who had a small smirk on his face. He was slightly surprised at what was in there. An overweight raccoon chattering and doing circles in the cage waiting to be released. It wasn't necessarily the animal that shocked Neji but his coloring. The standard black and gray fur was more of a blond sandy color, and the black mask was instead a light brown color. Gaara opened the cage, and the raccoon immediately jumped out and tried to shuffle to his shoulder, but its big belly got in the way. Neji couldn't help but smirk at the raccoon's attempts. Gaara picked up the animal and placed it on his shoulder, where it started to go through his hair.

"This is Shukaku. He's the one that helped me."

Neji could only stare with a mixture of confusion and amusement as Shukaku began to chew on Gaara's shirt.

"Uh, well, it's nice to meet him." Neji raised his hand for the raccoon to sniff, but the creature growled and slapped his hand. Neji jerked his hand away while Gaara chuckled. "Sorry, he doesn't really like anyone else."

"Okay," Neji said slowly. "So, how is he supposed to help me?"

"It's not necessarily him that will help you, but what he is."

"A raccoon?"

"An animal."

Neji gave a slightly confused look as Gaara pulled Shukaku off his shoulder and placed him on the floor on his back, and began to scratch at his big belly. The raccoon chattered again, nibbling at his hands as he rubbed. "It might seem silly, but you can talk to them. Vent if you have to. They also keep you busy."

Neji nodded, understanding what he meant. Instead of keeping things to himself like he was, he could get a pet of some sort. Taking care of one would also be something he could do when he felt lost, but there was one problem. His uncle wouldn't allow a pet in the house.

"I can't get a pet, and I'm sure I can't come here every day to talk to the animals."

"Get a job here."

Neji's jaw slightly dropped. He said that so nonchalantly like it was that easy. Before Neji could protest, the door behind them slammed open. Shukaku jumped and tried to run back on Gaara's shoulder, only getting there with Gaara's help. Neji slightly jumped, watching a young man with wild brown hair and a gray hoodie walked in.

"There you are. That little turd wouldn't come out of that cage for anyone today. He bit four people, including me."

Gaara stood, giving a small bow, "Sorry about that. I'll try to teach him better."

Neji stood as well, looking at the boy. He seemed very familiar but couldn't place him.

"Hey, wait a minute, your Neji Hyuga, right?"

"Yes, and you are?"

The boy slightly scoffed, "What do ya mean, and you are? I'm like one of your cousins' best friends. I came over to hang out just a few weeks ago."

Neji shook his head, "I don't recall."

The boy let out a frustrated sigh, "Kiba Inuzuka, alright. Don't forget this time."

Now that he heard the name Neji remembered him. Out of Hinata's loud friends, Kiba was about second to Naruto, which meant that he ignored him as much as possible.

"What are you doing here, anyway? This doesn't seem like your kind of scene."

"He wants a job," Gaara spoke before Neji could get a word out.

"What?" both Neji and Kiba said at the same time, looking at the redhead.  
Gaara didn't respond any further than that absently scratching the top of Shukaku's head.

"So, you, Mr. Neji perfect Hyuga, wants to work in the dirt and shit, huh? I have to say I'm a little surprised. Figured you'd want to work at some fashion agency or something."

Neji glared at the boy. What was it with people thinking he wanted to go into fashion? Just because he dressed nice and groomed himself properly did not mean he was into clothing. Kiba's comment made him angry.

"If there is a job position available, then I would gladly apply for it," Neji said without necessarily thinking.

"Do you even have any experience with animals?"

"I didn't, when I started here," Gaara spoke up before Neji could speak again.

"That's not the same, Gaara. You have that devil incarnate you've been taking care of. Neji doesn't have that experience."

"We all have to start somewhere," Gaara said back with no real emotion to his voice. Though it didn't seem like Gaara cared, Neji could tell he was trying to help him out and couldn't help but feel appreciative.

Kiba let out a slight growl, "Fine, I'll take you to my sister. She'll give you the application, but I'm not making any promises," he said, turning toward the door.

Gaara and Neji followed behind in silence as they made their way further into the building. This was when Neji realized what he's agreed to. Anxiety shot through his body, making his chest hurt. What the hell was he doing? He couldn't get a job. Kiba was right; he wasn't qualified for this. He didn't even know the last time he'd touched an animal. They walked until they hit a more office-like section of the building. Well, there was no way out of this now. Telling Kiba 'never mind' would strike out what tiny amount of pride Neji had left. He tried to think positively. Maybe this would help. It would undoubtedly make his weekends less empty. Hell, he had come this far. Why not? Kiba knocked on one of the doors until he heard an answer then walked inside, followed by the others. The room was a typical office space with a desk, file cabinets, and random pictures of families and animals. A woman that looked a lot like Kiba sat at the desk typing on her laptop.

"What is it that you need, Kiba? You're supposed to be feeding the wild dogs right now."

"I wouldn't be here for no reason, Hana. I have someone that wants a job," he mumbled flatly.

She looked up from her laptop at the three boys then let out a sigh. Neji immediately straightened his posture and held his breath. He hoped, prayed that she wouldn't turn him away. He didn't if he could handle the humiliation.

"Gaara, I've told you a thousand times you can't bring Shukaku into the office area."

Neji let go of his breath through his nose, relieved that she didn't shoo him away. "Now go put Shukaku in his enclosure and do your job. I'm sure the rest of the Procyonidae's are hungry by now." Gaara gave a small bow again. "Yes ma'am, I apologize for breaking the rules again," he said flatly.

He turned and left without another word making Neji feel a lot more unconformable. "Kiba, you go do your job as well, and you, young man, I'd like you to sit here." She pointed at the chair on the other side of her desk.

"Yeah yeah whatever," Kiba said, leaving the room. Once Kiba had gone and shut the door behind him, she started to pull out some papers from a drawer, placing them in front of Neji.

"What's your name?"

"Neji Hyuga," he said shortly.

"You eighteen yet?"

"No, I turned seventeen just a few months back in July."

"Alright, well, fill out this application, and because you're not eighteen, I'll need you to have this form signed by your parents."

Neji's heart sunk. There was no way his uncle would allow him to work here with permission. He must have made a face without realizing it because she spoke up again. "If you can't get it signed, you can still work here, you just wouldn't be able to touch any of the animals. To put it simply, you'd be on cage duty."

Neji nodded though that isn't particularly what he would want. The whole point was to interact with the animals.

"Fill out the application by Friday and have it back to me, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am, thank you."

"I got a lot of animals here, kid. I need as much help as I can get. Now run along. If you get lost, someone in the halls should help you out," she said, turning back to her laptop, typing again.

Neji got up slowly, taking the papers, and walked out the door shutting it behind him. He was about to try and find someone when he heard a familiar weird chatter to his left. There Gaara was kneeling down, scratching Shukaku's belly while the raccoon decided to bat his hands away, nibbling at his fingers. Neji felt slight relief when he saw Gaara there. He wasn't looking forward to getting lost in this place.

"I thought you had to put him up," Neji said, walking over to him. Gaara stood up, picking up his fat raccoon in the process, helping him on his shoulders.

"I didn't hear that."

Neji almost fell over. "You and I both know that's bull," Neji laughed. 

Gaara only smirked and began to walk down the hallway. "Hearing can be selective."

Neji was slowly beginning to realize that Gaara wasn't very good at following the rules, which right now he was okay with. "Well, thanks for waiting."

Gaara gave a small nod in response. The two boys made their way back to the locker room, but not before a lady tried to stop Gaara from going past the double doors because of Shukaku. Neji thought they would get in trouble, but Gaara just blew her off like she didn't even exist. An added bonus was when she reached for his shoulder, and Shukaku scratched her hand with his sharp nails. Neji almost felt the need to apologize but kept walking with Gaara instead.

"You're not going to get in trouble for that, are you?"

"For what? I didn't see anything?"

This time Neji laughed out loud at his antics. "You have selective sight too?"

Gaara chucked, "Maybe."

Neji left the sanctuary with a lifted spirit. For once in a long time, he felt kind of happy. This might actually solve his problem, at least for a little while. Even if he could figure out a way for his uncle to sign the paper, cleaning cages would be better than sitting in a lifeless house. He didn't want to get his hopes too high though, there were still things that could go wrong. Even though Hana seemed kind of desperate, he could still not get the job because of his lack of experience. Then there was the real trouble, his uncle. He didn't know how his uncle felt about part-time jobs, but he would disapprove, knowing him. Anything that wasn't psychology or school was a distraction. Nothing could get in the way of that. Plus, though this was minor, working with Kiba didn't sound all that exciting, either. Never the less, the pros outweighed the cons heavily, his mind flashing back to his locked balcony.

He took a deep breath. "It won't come to that," he whispered to himself as he pulled into the garage of his house. He was slightly shocked to see his uncle and Hinata prepping for dinner in the kitchen. Was it really that late?

"Neji, your back," Hinata breathed with a bit of relief in her voice.

"And just where did you go to be out so late?" his uncle questioned, not looking up from mixing whatever was in the bowl.

Neji thought for a moment, not wanting to give too much information. "I told you I was with my psychology partner. We didn't get a chance to talk in class, so I met with him at his job."

Hiashi only grumbled at his answer. Neji took notice and figured this would be his chance to ask. 

"Do you not approve of him having a job," he said, walking over to one of the bar stools and sitting down.

"You kids should be worried about school and your future, not your next paycheck."

Well, that answered that question. There was no way he was getting that signature. Maybe cleaning cages wouldn't be that bad. Hiashi's phone ringing snapped him out of his thoughts. He handed the bowl to Neji and walked into the dining room. Neji looked down at the bowl seeing a white and dark green mixed with a half-beaten egg. He was about to question it when Hinata spoke up, "It's for spinach puffs. Can you continue to mix that for me?"

"Yeah, of course," he nodded.

They both of them went silent, the only noise coming from Hiashi's phone call. Even with seeing and talking to his uncle, Neji's mood was a lot better than it had been in a while. If he could just figure out a way to get Hiashi's signature, things would be better. Hinata tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump. "That's enough, mixing. Thank you."

"Oh yeah, no problem."

Hinata took the bowl and began to spoon it on the pastries. "So, um, did you learn anything about your partner?"

"What?"

"U-um your psychology partner. You said you met with him. How'd it go?"

"Fine, he's very um...peculiar. Kind of, weirdly funny. I don't know."

That was defiantly the best way to describe his partner. No other words really worked. Hinata let out a small laugh, "Do you still think he's a murderer."

He almost forgot he told her that. Honestly, the more he talked to Gaara, the less that thought was even in his head. "I think I was overthinking things when it came to that," he chuckled.  
Hinata stopped filling the pastries and looked up at him in shock. Neji looked at her, confused, a small smile gracing his lips, "What?"

"T-that's the first time I've heard you laugh in a while, and you're smiling too."

Neji looked down at the table, slightly ashamed. "Oh, well. I feel better than I have in a while."

Hinata almost jumped for joy, "That's great, Neji!"

Neji smiled at her sheer joy. He loved seeing her happy, and unfortunately, that was somewhat rare now and days. He was about to reply when Hiashi came back into the kitchen.

"Is everything okay?" Hinata asked.

"Yes, someone forgot to make copies of a patient's records that are being transferred. I have to run up to my office and fax them, then I'll come back and help you."

Neji's eyes widened as Hiashi left the room. Copy. That was the solution. He would just copy Hiashi's signature. The only problem was he didn't know what it looked like. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it right. A quick trip into his office would fix this problem, but he would need to make sure Hiashi didn't go in there for at least a few minutes. It shouldn't be too hard, but he needed a guarantee.

"Hey, can I get your help with something?"

"Of course. What do you need?"

"When uncle comes back down here, can you make sure he stays down here for a few minutes."

"U-um okay, but why?"

"I'll tell you if I'm able to do what I need to do. I don't want you getting in unnecessary trouble." That was a half-truth. Hinata was a horrible liar, and one stern look made her break. If he revealed too much, she would defiantly tell without meaning to.

"A-ah, okay. I-I can do that. I'll just um..."

"Hinata, I'm not asking you to lie for me. Just keep doing what you're doing. I only need...two minutes, at the most okay."  
She nodded but looked like she was about to jump out of her skin. 

Neji got up from the barstool and began to walk back upstairs. 

"Thank you, and I promise I'll explain later," he said to her as he walked up the stairs.

Hiashi's office was a few doors down from Neji's own room, so he just had to wait for the quick footsteps to walk past his door. He shut the door behind him and pressed his back against his door, staring into his room. As he let his eyes wander around, his mood slowly started to slip. The colorless, lifeless room always made him feel empty. His eyes shot to his balcony doors still locked with the chain and padlock. He shut his eyes tight and turned around, pressing his forehead against the door. After taking a few deep breaths, he attempted to turn but couldn't bring himself to do it; his body just wouldn't let him. Thankfully, the footsteps he was listening for passed by his door, getting his mind back into focus. He waited for about thirty seconds before leaving his room and heading straight for his uncle's office. Luckily, Hiashi never locked his office door, so walking in was easy. Hiashi's office was disgusting in Neji's opinion.

Bland, boring white walls with brown trim. Paintings that were bought and copied by a machine making them uniform and plain. Annoyingly fake-looking nick-knacks and small statues littered brown shelves, making them look generic. The only thing redeemable was the few family photos on the desk and shelves. 

Neji slapped a look of disgust on his face and walked over to the fax machine, still running papers through it. He should be able to find his signature on whoever's file was going through. He looked through the documents that had already gone through the machine looking for his uncle's name, but instead, he found a name he wasn't expecting.

Gaara Sabaku kept popping up over and over again. His curiosity spiked through the roof. Why was Gaara going to his uncle's psychiatric office? He picked up all the papers looking through them. IED was repeating over and over again, but he didn't know what that meant. Looking down the form, he finally found what he was looking for, a signature. He pulled out his phone, took a picture of the name, and made sure the papers were put back on the fax machine. He was started to walk out of the door when he ran straight into his uncle, which caused them both to jump.

"Neji? What on earth are you doing here?"

"I-I was looking for you. I thought you would still be in your office." Neji lied smoothly, thanking whoever gave him the ability to think on his feet so quickly.

"No, that fax was taking longer than I thought, so I went down to check on Hinata. What did you need?"

"Uh, that meeting that you told me about last week. Did you reschedule that?"

Hiashi raised an eyebrow. "No, I'll have to talk to my colleagues again to set up another meeting."

His voice was questioning, and Neji prayed that he wouldn't ask any further as he backed out of his office. "Great, just let me know." Neji continued to step away until Hiashi was entirely out of sight. He made his way back downstairs, where Hinata was putting the finishing touches on dinner. She about jumped out of her skin when she saw Neji come down the stairs heading toward her.

"N-Neji I... I'm sorry. I just couldn't."

"Hinata." She stopped rambling and looked up at him.

"Thank you," he said with a genuine smile on his face pulling her straight into a hug. She was too shocked to say anything back as he pulled away and went back upstairs to his room. He would have to tell her later about the job. He had work to do. He went to his room, grabbed his only sketchbook, and sat on his bed, facing away from his balcony. He had to practice signing the name before he put in pen on the sheet.

Hiashi looked through his office very carefully. Though Neji was a perfect lair, he could tell he wasn't telling the truth. The question was, why? Nothing in the room seemed out of order. All things were in the right place. He stood in the middle of the office and thought the fax machine's noise was the only thing prevalent. Maybe he was telling the truth and was just overreacting. The fax machine beeped, notifying him that it was done. 

He walked over to the fax machine and looked through the papers one by one to make sure he included everything. They seemed to be okay at first glance, but then he noticed something. He flipped through them two more times to make sure he saw things right. One of the pages was out of order. This small detail probably wouldn't affect most people, but Hiashi was very particular about his filing and knew for a fact they were number correctly when he put them through the fax. That could only mean that Neji did something to them, but what and why? A few reasonable explanations scrolled through his head like a falling paper or if machine jammed, but there was no reason to lie about that. So why would he be looking through work files? He couldn't think of an idea now, but he was going to find out, one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much for reading :)


	3. Trying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, How's it going. Welcome back!
> 
> WARNING: This story hits pretty hard on depression and thoughts of suicide.

The mini-hike through the woods was a bit more tiresome than usual. Exhausted couldn't even begin to describe how Neji was feeling right now. The amount of time he spent writing and rewriting that signature was downright compulsive. At first, it was to get it perfect, so no one could possibly deny that Hiashi really signed the paper, but after that. After that, Neji didn't know what happened. He just kept writing it over and over for three hours. It would have gone for longer if Hinata didn't knock on the door to give him dinner. Maybe he was bored? He honestly had nothing else better to do afterward. Never the less, it left him dead tired. After snapping out of that trance, he had to fill out the rest of the paperwork. This wouldn't have taken that long for an average person, but Neji was a stickler for reading everything before he signed his name. Something he was actually grateful his uncle taught him. All and all, he was up until two in the morning, which only gave him a solid three hours of sleep before having to get back up for school. Under normal circumstances, he would have gone to the library to sleep for the first hour of class, but for some reason, he wanted to tell Gaara he got the paper signed. He didn't know the reason behind it. There would be little to no reaction out of the other male, but Neji was eager for some odd reason. Maybe it was that basic human need to share an accomplishment. Perhaps he wanted Gaara to know that he was trying. The exact cause was unknown, even to himself. As Neji settled down into his regular spot next to the rotten bench, he could already feel himself drifting to sleep. The scenery around him was lulling him like a lullaby. He yawned as he laid back in the fresh grass. The weather was beginning to be too cold to leave without a jacket, but Neji didn't mind. He much preferred cold weather than hot. He did take notice that Gaara was a bit more bundled up today than he had been. His collared shirt was long sleeve along with a jacket. If that wasn't an indicator that he was cold, the gloves and scarf covering his neck was. It made Neji wonder if it was always hot in the desert, or did they really have frigid nights like all the textbooks said. He was too tired to ask right now.

"I can wake you." Gaara's voice ripped him out of his thoughts and back down to reality.

"Hm?" It was the only response he could muster. He was so tired. "I can wake you before we go back." Neji gave a slight nod before letting his eyes close. When Gaara didn't hear a response, he turned to see Neji asleep in the long grass. He nodded and continued to put grass in a jar.

Hiashi had quite a few things to do at the office today before he started his typical sessions. The first thing was to find Iruka. He needed to ensure that he received the paperwork he sent last night. Iruka dealt with most of the troubled youth in the company. Having a troublesome past himself, he was able to relate to most of the children he saw. In Hiashi's opinion, his methods were a bit unorthodox. He often took them out to eat or to the mall. Though odd, these methods did work for most of them, but his newest patient might prove to be different. Hiashi firmly knocked on the door to Iruka's office. Though he was in a hurry, he wasn't going to be rude. He heard quick footsteps on the other side of the door before it swung open.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Hyuuga. How are you this morning?" Iruka stepped aside so Hiashi could step in.

"I'm doing fine, Mr. Umino." He stepped into Iruka's office, looking around. His office was bright and colorful. The paintings on the wall reminded him of his nephew's pictures, saturated and full of life. The knickknacks on his desk, even his session chairs, were colorful. It was all very distracting, making the eye wander around too much. This was the main reason Hiashi preferred neutral colors for his work. It didn't allow the patient to get distracted, allowing them to focus on the matters at hand. Despite his opinion on the issue, Hiashi didn't say anything. It was not his office, not his patients, and Iruka did produce astounding results.

"Was there something you needed, sir?"

Hiashi jumped out of his own head. "Ah, yes. I was wondering if you received the paperwork on your newest patient yet."

"Oh, of course," Iruka made his way over to his desk and opened a file drawer pulling out a small folder. "I'll be honest I haven't completely read through it yet," he stated, placing the folder on his desk.

"I suggest you do before you start your sessions with him. He might prove to be a bit different than your other patients."

Iruka sifted through the file page by page, "I heard he's not much of a talker."

"His current guardian suggested that his manner of speech is very much intentional."

"Manner of speech?"

"Incomplete sentences, one-word responses. His version of getting information without giving it back."

Iruka tapped his finger on the chart, thinking for a minute. "He's gaining a read on the person he's talking to without giving them a chance to do the same." He chuckled slightly, "It must be pretty confusing."

"It's a method I see in older adults. Knowledgeable adults," Hiashi responded all too seriously.

"You think he might outsmart me?"

"I think he will be a challenge."

A heavy silence fell between the two adults. Iruka raised an eyebrow at what Hiashi was implying. A kid with the mind of an adult might be too much for him. Hiashi didn't realize that minors all too often had proven to be smarter than most adults. Many of them were very willing to manipulate the mind, and each had a different way of doing it. Hiashi let a sigh pass through his nose, "I'm giving you this case because of your high success rate with minors, but if it proves to be too much, I will move him to someone else."

Iruka nodded, "I understand." Hiashi turned and started for the door. "Do you really think we should be doing this?" Iruka's voice stopped him at the door. "I mean, it just kind of seems wrong."

"He is unwilling to give information to the police. Everyone that has questioned him so far has either gotten no answer or were outsmarted. His guardian told us that he might speak to someone he trusts. That's where we come in."

"Well, I hope the police are in for the long hall," Iruka sighed. "It can take months for even an unintelligent minor to trust a psychologist. Even after that, there is the possibility that he still won't divulge such sensitive information."

Hiashi turned, "It doesn't matter how long it takes as long as he gives us something. If he doesn't, I fear that the young man's life will become very hard very quickly."

Iruka nodded in response. Hiashi once again was about to make his way out before a thought stopped him. "Mr. Umino, the file I sent, were the papers in order numerically?" Iruka quirked an eyebrow but once again sifted through the papers one by one.

"Yeah, they're in order."

"Hm, I see. Very well, then."

With that, Hiashi left Iruka's office. That confirmed that it wasn't a user error with those files. Neji indeed had looked through them, but why. He looked down at his watch. There was no time to worry about that right now. He had two other meetings before his sessions started, and he was already running late.

Dreams usually came easy to Neji now and days. They helped him escape from his harsh reality that tore his soul apart. Unfortunately, they also brought him back. No matter what, his dreams would fall apart, bringing him crashing down to earth like a meteor. His dreams did not wake him this time but a sensation. It started at his hairline and worked its way down his scalp. The first time caused his dream to stop; the second time, he held eyes shut and groaned. It felt good but unwanted. He moved his head back and forth, trying to get it to stop. The third, his eyes fluttered open and turned his head, trying to find the source. It took a moment for his eyes to focus before he saw the redhead next to him.

Gaara was crouched beside him with Neji's hair weaved in between his fingers. Neji sat up on his elbows with a groan, "What are you doing?"

Gaara simply let the rest of his hair fall from his fingers, stood, and walked away. Took Neji a second before he was awake enough to stand up himself. He yawned as he followed Gaara back out of the woods. Despite the nap, he was still dead tired and was already thinking of when he could get more sleep, but other thoughts came first.

"What were you doing before?" His voice was still a little rough from just waking up.

"I woke you."

"Bit unorthodox to pet someone wake, don't you think?" Neji should have been angry; in fact, he should be furious. He didn't like his hair touched moreover;, he didn't like being touched in general, but he was tired. Too tired to work up the energy to be mad. He would instead just figure out why and move on.

"It worked."

Neji snorted. He didn't know why he expected any other answer out of the redhead. It seemed to him the Gaara simply did things to get the desired result. There was something almost pure about it. Neji decided it was best to drop the subject. There was no use in pressing it any further. The duo found themselves once again at the doors to the school, where they usually parted ways. Neji stopped right before entering the school, "I got the paper signed." Gaara stopped and turned to look at Neji. The stare seemed to last forever, making Neji a little uncomfortable.

"Is it good enough?"

Neji quirked an eyebrow, truly confused. "Is what...?"

"The copy," Gaara stated, still not looking away from Neji. Took a second for Neji to put two and two together, but when he did, his eyes widened. He knew. Somehow Gaara knew that he forged the signature, but how?

"H-how did you?"

Gaara just shrugged and looked away from him. "As long as it's good enough," he said, walking into the school building. Neji stood there, absolutely shocked. How in the hell did he know that he copied the signature? Neji racked his brain through all the memories he could think of with Gaara. Did he ever give any indication that his uncle was a tyrant? After their first interaction, he realized that Gaara was able to gather information and come to a conclusion with little less than a word. He must have said something that gave him a clue, but what was it? Neji stood by the door for an unknown amount of time thinking to himself. It wasn't until the bell rang for his next class that he snapped out of his thoughts. The question would have to wait.

Thankfully, Neji slept the next few classes, being caught up with all of his school work. His teachers didn't think it was too productive, but his grades told them not to bother him. By lunch, Neji felt a lot better rested than he did that morning and was currently looking around the outside eating area for Hinata. In his obsession last night, he forgot to tell her he would be getting a job. He hoped that this new information would sedate her worrying. It took a few minutes before he spotted her next to who he hoped he would never see again. Neji groaned, rubbing his forehead. He could feel the headache coming already. Maybe he could tell her later. There was no harm in having her wait a few more hours, but was that fair? She had already worried enough as is, and it was his fault. Neji cursed his conscience for talking him out of walking away. Even still, it took him another solid five minutes before he worked up the courage to approach his cousin. "Hey, Hinata." Before Hinata could even utter a response, Naruto attacked.

"Neji! I haven't seen you around lately. Are you joining us for lunch? You can't steal my cookie this time. I already ate it," Naruto laughed.

Neji almost turned around to walk away. The words 'She's important' replayed over and over in his head until it stuck. "Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Neji grumbled out, turning to walk away. Hinata nodded and got up to leave.

"Hey. Why so serious? Everything okay," Naruto spoke with a bit of concern lining his words. Hinata couldn't help but smile, "It's fine, Naruto. I'll be back in a minute."

Both Hyuga's made their way across the area and under the cool shade of a tree. Neji leaned against the tree while Hinata fidgeted in front of him. Now that he was here, he almost didn't know how to start. "Um, how are you," he said a bit awkwardly.

"I'm okay. You still seem to be feeling better than before." He nodded, "Yeah, I am."

There was a calm silence as the wind blew through both of their long hair. "Listen, I um, told you yesterday I'd explain everything, so I figured I'd do that now."

Hinata's eyes widened a bit then she looked down at feet. She was slightly afraid of what Neji had to say. Her cousin wasn't one to be irresponsible, so she wasn't too worried, but he had been so off lately. She didn't quite know what to expect. "First, I wanted to apologize. I've been messed up, to say the least, and I know you've been worried."

"Neji, you have nothing to be sorry for," Hinata interrupted, her tone serious. "What father did...it was..." Her voice was shaking, showing her anger. It made Neji's heart hurt.

"Hinata, it's fine."

"It's not," she practically shouted, making Neji jump. He could count on his fingers how many times she's yelled like that. "You shouldn't have to suffer through this. It's wrong and unfair. And the fact that he doesn't even see what it's doing to you."

"Hinata."

She stopped and looked at her cousin. His head was turned away, looking down at the ground, fists clenched. With his mouth clenched shut, she could hear his ragged breathing through his nose. Her words were affecting him negatively in some way. She stopped and turned away, "I'm sorry."

It took a minute for Neji to be able to respond. His mind started to fall apart at Hinata's words, and he needed to pick up the pieces. "I'm trying to help," he muttered out slowly.

"What?"

"I'm trying to help myself," he said a little loud, finally looking back at her. "I got a job, a least, I hope I got a job."

"A job?"

"It's where I went when I dropped you off the other day."

Hinata nodded slowly, "What kind of job is it?"

She was still slightly concerned that Neji got himself involved in something he shouldn't. "Working with animals. My psychology partner told me about it."

Hinata's face lit up, "Neji, that's great." She skipped up and wrapped her arms around Neji. It was the second time today he was touched. This time he didn't mind in the slightest. He snaked his arms around her, resting his cheek on the top of her head. The two stayed there for what seemed like forever, enjoying each other's company. Neji was the first to let go, the lack of her warmth leaving him cold.

"I just didn't want you to worry anymore," he whispered, looking down at the ground again. Hinata smiled. The two of them were worried about each other for different reasons.

"Neji, I'm always going to worry, but I'll try to do it a little bit less." He gave a slight nod in response.

"Do you want to join me for the rest of lunch? We still have fifteen minutes." Neji scoffed, holding back a chuckle, "Not with your boyfriend around. One of us would end up dead."

Hinata's face flushed a bright red, "H-he's not…I mean w-we're not…"

Neji pushed off the tree and started to walk away. "I'll see you after school Hinata," he said, patting her shoulder as he passed. Hinata watched as her cousin walked away. He seemed better. Not normal by any means, but better. The typical air of confidence was still missing, and he was defiantly still extremely sensitive about the subject. The joke he said made her a bit more hopeful that he would with time recover. She walked back to her seat next to Naruto, who was slurping down the last bit of his noodles. She couldn't help smile as the hot soup splashed in his face causing him to grunt in pain. Hinata sat down next to him, grabbed a napkin, and wiped his face off. He let her wipe him off, then gave a goofy grin afterward.

"Thanks, guess I should be more careful, huh?"

"Yeah," she laughed. Before she could say anything else, there was a tap on Naruto's shoulder. They looked up to see Gaara standing there; his bag seemed to sag from the weight of whatever was inside. "Hey, Gaara! What's up."

Gaara would was looking nowhere, in particular, looked down at the both of them. His eyes seem to linger on Hinata before looking back at Naruto. "Do you have the empty ones," he said in a low, gruff voice.

"Huh? Oh yeah!" Naruto grabbed his bag next to him, pulling out two small empty jars. In turn, Gaara set his bag down on the table with a loud thud pulling out two jars full of dirt and leaves. "Whoa, you got a lot today," Naruto chirped, sliding over the empty containers.

The redhead made a small noise in response, taking them and placing them in his bag. Without another word, he walked off. "Bye! See you later," Naruto said, waving as he left! Hinata watched the entire exchange with an eyebrow raised. So that was Neji's psychology partner. He was certainly odd. Typically, she wasn't one to snoop, but she was willing to do anything when it came to her cousin.

"Who was that?" Though it wasn't necessary, she decided to play dumb. It would be best if she could get as much information as she could.

"Oh, that's my friend Gaara. I met him at the beginning of the school year. He's living in the same complex as me." Hinata thanked the gods that Naruto was so forthcoming with information.

"What were those jars for?"

"Hm?" The blonde thought for a minute scratching his chin as he pulled the jars closer to him. "You know, I don't know. He just asked if I could help him out one day, and I did."

"And you didn't ask what they were for?" Hinata giggled. Anyone else would have been frustrated, but she just thought it was sweet. Not many people would help someone without any information and continue to help them.

"I did ask, but he didn't answer. Actually, he doesn't talk all that much." Hinata went silent for a minute. Naruto might not be the best person to find out about Neji's psychology partner, but who else would know about him.

"Kiba might know more," Naruto chipped practically, reading her mind.

"Hm?"

"Kiba works at the same place as Gaara. He probably knows more about him. I can ask for you if you want?" Hinata shook her head, smiling at the blond, "No, that's okay. I was just curious."

Naruto placed the jars in his bag then polished off the rest of his soup. He let out a satisfied sigh before speaking again. "He and I are kind of alike, you know. Not a lot of people liked him as a kid either."

Hinata's face saddened. Though Naruto was pretty much accepted/tolerated by most now, that wasn't always the case. In his younger years, he was homeless, and with no adult figure in his life, he was quite the delinquent. Pulling pranks, stealing food, you name it, he did it, making him a public nuisance for all. Parents told their kids to stay away from him, so making friends was just about impossible. Soon enough, kids started making fun of him because of his worn clothes and unbathed skin. He was truly alone. Hinata was sure Gaara probably didn't have the exact same issues being a major's son, but if his childhood was anything like Naruto's, then she felt bad for him.

"He looks sad sometimes," Naruto's words snapped her out of her own thoughts. "I wonder if people still don't like him over there."

Hinata placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "He has to have some friends over there. Maybe he just upset because he's so far away from home."

"That's what I thought too, that's why I want to be friends with him. So, he's not so lonely."

She couldn't help but smile, "I think he appreciates it."

Naruto smiled back at her, stood, and picked up his bag. "Lunch is almost over, you want me to walk you to class."

She shook her head, "That's okay, I have something I have to take care of first, and I don't want you to be late." Hinata stood, picking up her bag as well. "I'll see you after school, okay?" "Okay, see you later," he waved, walking off without another thought.

Hinata quickly made her way close to her next class. Kiba's classroom was close to hers, and if she ran, she could catch him. Her thought of getting more information on Gaara was still in her head, but she also wanted something else from him. She saw him close by his classroom door, leaning against the wall talking to Shino. He looked up when he saw her coming toward them.

"Hinata, I've been wanting to talk to you."

Kiba turned to Shino, "I'll talk to ya later bud." Shino only nodded and wandered off as Kiba turned back to Hinata, his expression serious. "So, what the hell is up with your cousin?"

"W-what do you mean?" She honestly didn't know what he meant. There was no way he knew about Neji's recent issues, nor did he really care.

"He comes barging in yesterday asking to work for us and no offense, but he does not seem like he likes animals or anything living for that matter."

"Neji likes animals; we just can't have them because of my father. So, he did apply for a position over there?"

"Well, it might not have been completely his idea. When Gaara said he wanted to work there, he looked just as shocked as I did. I thought he would decline after, but he just agreed and got the paperwork."

"Gaara's that foreign exchange student, right?" She decided to act like she didn't have any information again. Unlike Naruto, it was necessary for Kiba.

"Yeah, the kid with the super red hair. He started working there because his little demon child isn't allowed where he's living."

Hinata chuckled, "Demon child?"

"That damn evil ass raccoon he has. The thing bit me three times yesterday, trying to feed him." Kiba held up his hand, showing off three band-aids covering up the healing wounds. Hinata could only laugh at his exasperation.

"Seriously, Hinata! This is no laughing matter! The things evil and Gaara is weird as hell."

"Well, last time I checked raccoons don't make the best of pets. I saw him talking to Naruto earlier. He just seemed a little quiet."

Kiba sneered, "Pfft, he's just as much of a trouble maker as that raccoon is. He never follows the rules. Barely talks. He overfed all the other nocturnal animals, giving the response of 'they looked hungry.' He carries that little devil everywhere he goes, so no one came even come near him to correct him on any mistakes! How do you even work with someone like that?!" Kiba huffed, flinging his hand up in the air.

Hinata rubbed the back of her head, chuckling at Kiba's mini-rant. "Maybe you should try talking to him before he gets the raccoon out or bring him straight to the office?"

"That's not going to work. Here's the thing, if Gaara doesn't want to see or hear you, he simply won't."

Hinata scrunched her face. How was that even possible? "I'm sorry I don't understand."

Kiba scratched the back of his head, "Man, I don't know how to explain it. Just know that he's weird, and I don't like him."

"Fair enough, I guess." The bell rang before she could comment again.

"Oh, gotta go. I'll get suspended if I'm late again. Talk to ya later. Maybe we'll see a movie later," Kiba shouted, running off. Hinata only waved back. She was slightly disappointed she couldn't get more information on Gaara. Maybe she could arrange to talk to him directly. That shouldn't be too hard.

He was happy he finally eased some of his cousin's worries. Unfortunately, her words got to him like a rabid dog gnawing away at his leg. He wondered what was causing this spiral, this descent into darkness. This thought wasn't new. In fact, since his decent, he thought about it a lot. Why was his mind shutting down? How could he fix the problem? Was it indeed the lack of him being able to express himself? No, there was something more to it than that, but what?

Neji pondered over these thoughts for the rest of the school day. It was starting to give him a headache. Leaning up against his car, looking down with his hand over his mouth, he didn't notice Ten-Ten walk up to him.

"Hey, Neji. You okay?"

God, he hated that question. It set his teeth on edge. He looked up to see his concerned friend leaning down to see his face. "I'm fine. Just thinking."

Ten Ten gave an unsure look to the side, "Do you mind if I asked about what," she spoke softly? Neji considered it. Ten Ten used to the one he would talk to when Hinata wasn't around. Why was it different now? Nothing changed. She wasn't the cause of the problem. Maybe if he could just ask, she could solve his problem, or at least help. He just had to ask.

"Nothing."

"Oh... Okay." Neji mentally kicked himself in the teeth. The disappointment in her voice was not only heard but felt.

"Well, I wanted to remind you about the art show, figure out a time you know."

"Yeah, I can meet you there or..."

"Neji, do you even know what time the show is?" Her voice was a bit harsher than she intended, but he was just so frustrating. She tried leaving him alone, that wasn't working. She's trying to get him out to something he enjoyed, which he seemed disinterested in. Now she was trying to talk to him, and he was deflecting. To her understanding, he was not talking to Hinata, so why not her. What changed? The frustration didn't go unheard by Neji.

He honestly wasn't trying to be a pain; it just wasn't in his nature to express severe problems with her. He looked down at the ground, "I'm sorry." It was the only thing he could come up with. He didn't mean to make her mad. Ten-Ten sighed, "It starts at ten, but we don't have to get there that early if you don't want to."

"Maybe at twelve."

"I'll pick you up then."

"I can drive."

"But, you're not."

Neji nodded; she seemed mad enough. She smiled softly, "Alright, then. I'll see you on Saturday at eleven."

Not bothering to wait for a response, she turned and left. As soon as she reached her car, Lee popped his head out from behind the vehicle. "Are you hiding?"

"I didn't want to compromise the mission if he saw me."

Ten Ten smacked her palm against her forehead before rubbing down her face. "Get out from behind the car Lee."

Despite Neji probably already being long gone, Lee looked around before coming out into full view. "How did it go?"

Ten Ten growled into the air, "Not as great as I was hoping."

"Did he change his mind?"

"No, we're still going, but he didn't seem like he wanted to."

"Maybe he is just tired from today. It is the end of the school day."

"Lee, he's been like this for months. I don't think it's that." Ten Ten sighed again, "I don't think I helped either. I got a little frustrated with him."

Lee looked down, disappointed. What else could they do to help their suffering friend out? "Perhaps was should get an adult? Our psychology teacher is knowledgeable, not to mention his profession."

"Hinata seemed really reluctant to do that."

"Yes, but," Lee stopped for a minute to gather his words. "I don't mean her any disrespect, but maybe Hinata's not thinking completely clear. Our friend's predicament affects her more than any of us."

"I know Lee, I know." She had been on and off the idea of going to a teacher as well. Something about her conversation with Hinata was stopping her. "Maybe she had a reason. What if that makes it worse? We both know how independent Neji is."

"I know, but..."

"What are you two morons yelling about?" Sasuke stood across the car with his hands shoved in his pockets. He usually would ignore these two, but when he heard Neji's name, he decided to figure out what was going on. He'd never seen Neji at his best, being complaining buddies, but recently he a been more off than usual.

Lee jumped at the opportunity, "Sasuke, maybe you could help us?"

"No, Lee," Ten Ten hushed to him.

"But he's his friend too."

"I don't want to involve more than we have to," she whispered.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I'm not deaf, you know."

"Yeah, well, you would know that we don't need your help then."

"Ten Ten," Lee warned.

"Listen, if we need you, we'll come to find you, alright?" Sasuke stared at the two for a moment as if waiting for them to say more. When they didn't, he walked away, mumbling to himself as he went.

"I don't think that was a good idea."

"We'll handle it, Lee."

"I still think we should tell a teacher."

"Let me go to this art show with him. I'll try to pick his brain. After that, if he's bad, we'll tell someone."

"I hope your right."

Neji felt like his energy had been sapped from his body. He sat back in his front seat with a huff. God, he was tired. What was he thinking about again? The only thing that came to mind was that he wanted to go to bed. His eyes started to drift shut. Maybe he could get a nap in before Hinata came in. A small knock on his window shattered those dreams. Hinata gave a short wave from outside the car. Not even realizing that he locked the car, Neji let his smiling cousin into the vehicle with a yawn.

"Hey, how are you feeling," she said, settling into the car?

"Tired," was his only response. He couldn't think straight anymore. Hinata looked over to him. Her cousin looked positively drained. He was pale, with sagging eyes almost like he had gone days without sleep.

"Do you want to take a nap when we get home? I can wake you for dinner."

Neji took his time sitting up and turning on the car. "No, I have to turn in my application. I don't know if there will be anything else involved."

"Do you want me to come with you? I don't want you to fall asleep while driving."

"I'm fine," was the only response he gave. Hinata stayed quiet after that. She wanted to ask what was wrong. Ask him what happened in-between lunch and now to cause such a downfall in mood. She decided against it. It seemed like the more attention she gave him, the more he would seize up.

"Well, I'll make something for you a little early and stick it in the fridge. You can grab it and go to your room after, okay?"

He nodded in response. The drive to the house was as silent as it had been the past month. After their talk at lunch, Hinata was hoping she could talk to him about his psychology partner, but there was no way she would get a response now. Hell, she would settle for fake boring office talk over the silence.

Hinata got out of the car as soon as the car came to a stop in the garage. "I'll leave your food in the fridge, okay?" She knew she had already told him that but, she was grasping at straws. He only nodded again in response. "Um, be careful."

"Okay."

She backed away from the car, not knowing what else to say to him. Watching him pull out of the driveway, she hoped that maybe he would feel better after getting this job. Maybe, just maybe, it would ease his mind.

Neji walked through the lobby of the sanctuary with a look of disgust. He decided since this whole fiasco started, anything room with plain white and brown enraged him. It reminded him of his uncle. He knew he had a sour look on his face when the receptionist at the desk looked taken aback. "I need to turn this in," he tried to clean his face as he showed her the application.

"O-oh, um, if you head straight through those doors, you'll hit the offices. Just knock on Hana's door."

Neji nodded in thanks as she buzzed him through. Walking through the building without Gaara, there was a bit more nerve-racking than he thought. The first time he was here, he wasn't paying enough attention to know exactly where he was going. It didn't help that no one was walking around for him to ask. The halls were empty, all the same color, there were doors with different labels everywhere. The strange noises were throwing him off. Neji stopped in the hallway once he hit a wall; he was lost. His mind raced. Maybe he should turn back; have the receptionist lead him there. Perhaps this was a sign that he shouldn't do this. What was he actually doing here? Was this really going to help? He wasn't qualified for this. Neji looked down at the application in his hand, turning in the other direction. Maybe he should reconsider this. It was a spur of the moment decision. The thought of ripping the papers in half crossed his mind when he ran into someone in the hall. Not only did his application go flying, but the containers that the other person was carrying hit the floor as well.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention," Neji mumbled, bending to help pick up the containers. The other bent down as well, straightening his blond hair as he did.

"Hm, you look new. Did you just start?" Neji considered telling him whether he was a new applicant. He was just about to leave. Unfortunately for him, the blond picked up his application before he could.

"Oh, your applying. Let me guess, Kiri upfront told you to head straight back, didn't she?"

"Uh, yeah, I was actually about to go back," Neji mumbled, standing back up. The stranger re-balanced all the containers in his arms as he rose as well.

"No need for that. I'll take you over there. Follow me." The blond walked past him and turned to the right in which Neji followed silently. So much for turning around and leaving out. "What's your name, kid?"

Neji didn't particularly like being called a kid, but he kept quiet. "Neji Hyuuga." The duo walked through a familiar door that led to an office like section.

"Well, Neji, next time you come in, don't listen to Kiri. She has no idea where anything is. Hana's office is that one to the left."

"Thank you."

The blond gave a small wave, "See ya around."

Neji didn't bother lingering in the hall and knocked on the office door. A yell came from the other side that sounded like a disgruntled 'what.' Neji poked his head inside. Hana looked up from her computer for a second, "Who are you?"

"Neji Hyuga, I have an application to turn in."

"Alright, get in here."

Neji walked the rest of the way in and sat in the chair. He began to put the paper on the desk, but Hana snatched it before it touched wood. "You on any drugs?"

Neji looked taken aback, "No."

She looked up at him then quickly flipped through the pages. "Had a tetanus shot in the last ten years?"

"I assume so." All of his health care was through his uncle, which meant mandatory physicals once a year. Hana discarded the application on top of another stack of papers and dug for another packet.

"Alright, you're hired, fill these out for me." Neji didn't take the documents from her immediately. That was it? She barely even glanced at his application. Quick snapping ripped him out of his head.

"C'mon. c'mon kid, I don't have all day."

Neji filled out the forms to the best of his ability. Being his first time filling something like this out, he probably took a lot longer than he should have. Though Hana made no notion that he was taking too long, he still felt a little embarrassed. He handed the forms to Hana once he was done.

"Alright, so technically I could have you start today, but I need to talk to the rest of my staff. See who needs you the most. Once I find that out, you'll be in training for about four weeks where you'll shadow whoever you're with after that your on your own. No vacation time until ninety days, and we don't close for holidays, so if you have to call out, it's going to affect your check. You get all that."

Neji nodded quickly.

"Alright come back next week, I'll have your section and schedule done by then. Also, your partner will give you a tour."

Once again, Neji just nodded; he had nothing to add. When she didn't speak again, he took that as his cue to leave. This time he remembered how to get out without help.

Neji's eyes burned as he rolled on his side in the forbidden forest. The pounding in his head hadn't stopped for days. He tried to think. Tried to get his head in a straight line again. Unfortunately, every time he thought about what was wrong with him, his head would split into a million different directions. What was even more unfortunate was that he couldn't stop thinking. What was wrong with him? Why was this happening? How could he make it better? Would those options even work? These questions all came simultaneously, causing a giant question tree whose branches were growing through every lope in his brain, scratching against the dura mater. Another bolt of pain ran through his head, causing another groan.

"Do you get migraines?"

Gaara's voice almost made him jump. The redhead always seemed to know when Neji was having a rough day. Either that or he blatantly ignored Neji no matter how he was feeling. Regardless, Gaara never spoke unless spoken to, hell even that was a stretch.

"Is that your question?"

Gaara stopped digging at tree bark and looked at Neji with an eyebrow quirked. Neji stared back, mirroring his expression. In truth, Neji didn't want to answer questions nor ask them. He was hoping his smart ass remark would deter Gaara from continuing. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Gaara smirked and turned around.

"Do you accept the terms?"

Neji looked away from his smirking companion. No, he didn't want to 'accept the terms.' That's what he was trying to avoid. Gaara's answer was just as snarky as his was. Now, this was a battle of wits, and Neji wasn't going to lose.

"No, I don't get migraines," he answered back with his head screaming in regret. Now was the hard part. What question should he ask? The thought of thinking of something, anything to ask, was causing a nuclear explosion of pain. Neji unintentionally let out another groan.

"Do you take back your agreement?"

Neji glared at the dirt. Fuck him. Fuck him and his weird way of knowing precisely what he was thinking. "Do you dye your hair?" It was a dumb question that would get him no information but, fuck it. He didn't care.

"No."

Though he showed no signs of showing it, Neji was shocked. Such bright red hair could be natural? Maybe it was a Suna thing. "You turned in the application?"

"Yes."

Two people could play the one-word game. The repercussions came when he had to think of another question. Before the fundamental question, tea or coffee slipped from his mouth, another peaked its way out of his melting brain.

"Do you miss Suna?"

Neji didn't know where it came from, and from Gaara's sudden immobility, he didn't either. Gaara only blinked, grabbing his sleeve. Neji almost felt like celebrating, catching him off guard if it wasn't for his expression. For the first time, Gaara didn't look bored, unemotional, or the rare smug. He looked conflicted with a hint of anger mixed in. A glare that that would put Neji's best icy look to shame began to take over. Any other person would have taken this as a sign. Ask if they're okay or don't say anything else. Hell, he could have even told him not to answer. But Neji was an asshole, and he knew it.

"Do you take back your agreement?" It was a punch straight to the gut. Neji relished in the victory, waiting for the response.

Any average person would have been angry. They probably would ignore him or tell him to fuck off. Gaara wasn't normal. The glare faded away to his regular expression, which then molded into a sizable smirk—this slightly disturbed Neji.

"There are aspects of Suna that are regretfully not here, but there is nothing I can do about that."

Neji sat his head up with a glare and a bit of dizziness. What the fuck did that mean? He didn't even answer the question. Despite Neji's glare, which he knew Gaara could see, he still had that smirk on his face. Bastard.

"Interpret that as you like."

Neji almost growled. Fucking bastard. That small victory was ripped from his body and stomped into the dirt in a matter of seconds.

"Do you miss painting?"

Damn him.

Neji knew that this would happen from the beginning. Ask a personal question you get one back, but the problem was, he didn't ask a personal question. Asking if you missed a particular place was rudimentary, at best. Now Neji was caught in a snare. Gaara was looking for the same high that Neji found himself in for a total of fifteen blissful seconds. That reaction of shock or anger that threw him off just moments ago. So did Neji give Gaara what he wanted. That angry shouting person he should become after a question like that. On the flip side, he could brush it off; act nonchalant. Unfortunately, this would also give Gaara precisely what he wanted. Neji had already proven to Gaara that anger is his first defense. Acting indifferent would be a lie, one he would recognize instantly. There was only one thing he could possibly think of that would throw a wrench in that shit-eating smirk that Gaara had plastered on his face.

"Yes, I do. I think about it all the time. I didn't realize how much it affected my life until it was gone. How much of it was me."

The smirk was gone, which, yes, was a small victory, but the answer hurt. It made him realize that he was nothing without painting. Before, it was all he thought about doing, all he did. He didn't want to do anything else. So now that it was gone, who was he? Seconds after answering, the pain in Neji's head switched to a numbing haze. A grenade had gone off and had left him brain dead. Neji stood from his spot with his bag and left. He didn't know if Gaara was following behind him or not, nor did he care. His eyes burned as hot tears threatened to wet his cheeks. He made his way out of the forest through the school entirely and straight to his car. There was no way he could stay for the rest of the day. Not with the sudden realization that he was now no one. What does one do with this information? How the fuck can he keep himself from falling apart. A knock on his window almost put his head through his car roof. Did he get caught by a teacher? It would only make things worse if his uncle found out about his departure.

"Roll down the window, you idiot." The voice quelled his fear immediately as he rolled down the window. "You look like shit," Sasuke pointed out as his face came into view.

"You don't exactly look stunning yourself."

The raven chuffed, "What are you doing out here?"

Neji leaned back in his chair with a sigh, rubbing his eyes. "I just can't stay here today."

There was no response for a little bit. Neji almost thought he left.

"Come with me." Sasuke walked away from the car, leaving Neji just a bit shocked. "Hurry up!" Jumping at his shout, Neji got out of his car and followed. The car ride was awkward at best.

Neither of them talked. Both stared out their respective windows. They stopped at a park, one that looked similar to the outdoor area at the school. A large hilly area with reddening trees scattered about. A winding concrete path with elderly ladies working on their steps was the only real difference. Both boys got out of the car and started walking down the trail at a leisurely pace. It was nice—an excellent way to not think about anything and let his dismantled brain rest. After a few minutes, Sasuke went off the path and up to a large tree, sitting at the base. Neji followed, sitting next to him without much protest. The sounds and environment had a different calm than the forest he had been regularly visiting. His composure was slightly interrupted when the smell of weed hit his nose. Sasuke took a long drag from the joint before shoving it over to Neji. Before Neji could utter a word of rejection, Sasuke stopped him.

"Just take the damn thing. One time isn't going to kill you."

Neji didn't know if he agreed with him or if his brain was too messed up to think straight. Regardless, he took it from him. Surprisingly wasn't as awful as he thought it would be. He figured it would taste horrible, and the smell would be worse. Neither of those things bothered him much. The warm feeling throughout his chest felt nice against the cold weather. Unfortunately, the coughing was inevitable, which he was thoroughly laughed at by Sasuke.

"Alright, what the fuck did he do?"

Neji relaxed against the tree. In his mind haze, he might be willing to spill his woes. "Nothing." The response was automatic. Though his brain was melting out of his ears, it was still functioning enough for his normal defenses.

"Don't feed me that bull shit. What did he do?" Sasuke seemed more serious this time flecks of anger lined his voice. Though Neji's defenses were there, they were weak. This still didn't produce an answer, but he couldn't think of a good enough response either. "Either you tell me what he did, or I'll tell your uncle that you skipped school to smoke weed with me at the park."

Neji gave him a glare, "He wouldn't believe you."

"Try me. Even if you run at top speed, you wouldn't make it back until the middle of the next class. No matter what, there would be some truth to my statement."

Neji pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a rough sigh. "Fuck it," he growled, rubbing his face again. "He took away my painting along with anything that had to do with it."

Sasuke passed him the joint again which, he took with no hesitation. "And I realized," he coughed again, handing it back to Sasuke. "I realized that I don't have anything else but that. Ever since my father, it was all did. All I thought about. I don't know who I am anymore." There was a long silence between the two of them—the wind blowing the trees knocking leaves into their laps. "Worse part is I don't know how to fix it. I've tried other things. They just don't help." It took a while for Sasuke to respond.

"Did you know I wanted to go into politics."

Neji only grunted. Quite frankly, he didn't know much about Sasuke personally other than his hatred of his family.

"I wanted to go to college for political science. I have countless books, spent years studying. Hell, most of my time is spent watching debates and public addresses, assessing what could be done better. What would be better for the public?" Sasuke paused to take another hit before continuing. "Turns out, I'm not meant to do any of that. Turns out, I'm meant to go to school for business and take over a company. A company I don't give two shits about. It's maddening that just being born in my family means that I'm not allowed to do what I want."

Neji took the burning paper from Sasuke's hand before he hit it again. "You seem so calm and carefree all the time. How do you keep yourself from falling apart? Is this the reason?" He took another long drag before handing it back, only coughing once this time.

Sasuke chuckled, "It helps, but no, it's not the reason." Neji gave a curious look while watching Sasuke finish the joint off and flicking it into the wind. "Over time, I just said fuck it. I'm going to make my last years freedom my own. I made sure I only needed to pass a few classes last year and this year. The times that I'm gone, I sneak into the political science classes at the community college up the road. Hell, one of the teachers thinks I'm actually a student I've been going for so long."

Neji huffed, looking off at a woman walking the dog, "If only I had half the bravery you have."

"What's stopping you from buying some cheap paint supplies?"

"My uncle stopped my allowance after he took everything away."

"Get a job."

"I'm working on that."

"Okay, so get the checks and buy some fucking paint."

"Then what? Put it in my room, acting like he won't notice."

"It's a thought."

"A stupid one."

"Why is that?" Neji sighed. This was getting into territory he didn't even talk about with Hinata. Though he was already talking to Sasuke about things he wouldn't usually talk about, he would not go this far. "Um, last time someone didn't do what my uncle wanted, they disappeared." It sounded far more ominous than the full truth. Judging by Sasuke's scrunched face, he didn't fully believe the line either.

"Shit sounds straight out of a god damn movie."

Neji let out a frustrated sigh, "Listen, I don't need you to believe me."

"I never said I didn't."

Neji's eyes widened in shock as he looked over to the raven. "Parents, or in your case uncles, can do stupid shit when people don't meet expectations. Expessually, rich ones. Whatever your uncle did. I have no doubt in my mind that he did it."

Neji was still shocked. His mind flashed back to when he was a kid. Pleading with people that his uncle had something to do with the disappearance. No one ever believed him. He was just a kid. What did he know? And now a person that he only recalled complaining to regularly believed him after one very vague and cliche sentence.

"Y-yeah."

It was all he could get out. Neji's chest was filled with a feeling he couldn't quite place. He couldn't tell what he was feeling. He was relaxed yet anxious, relieved, but still upset. The conflicting feelings were making him squirm. It didn't help that his already fractured brain was trying now to figure out what was happening. Neji started to dig his fingers in the dirt. He had to do something, anything, to distract from this weird feeling. Sasuke looked down at Neji's fingers then back up at him.

"I see you're the anxious type."

"What?"

"Nothing. Listen, no matter how hard your situation is or what your uncle did or does, it can't be any worse than it already is."

"But what if..."

"It doesn't fucking matter, Neji. If you already feel like launching yourself off a building, what the fuck does it matter if he caught you, huh?"

Sasuke sounded angry again. His statement brought made Neji's balcony flash into his mind. What did it matter? He regularly felt dead already. Despite these thoughts, Neji wasn't convinced. What if it did get worse. His head started to hurt again, his eyes burning a bit.

"If he caught me..."

"Fuck him."

Neji could only chuckle. How long had he wanted to say that to his uncle with no avail? Hell, maybe he was just too afraid to tell it to his uncle. He didn't know. Too many questions were coming back, hitting his skull like a jackhammer. He was starting to not think straight again.

"A 'fuck you' can only last so long on the streets. Then I might as well just..." The rest of the sentence didn't come out. He didn't want to think about killing himself but was that the only ending result. No matter what would he end up dead somewhere before he was eighteen. Neji was finding it harder to breathe. His eyes wouldn't stop burning.

"Come to my house then. Hell, it's big enough you could live there without anyone knowing."

"I doubt that will work."

"I'll lie if you get caught."

Neji looked over to him. He would do that for him. I guess they were friends, though Neji hasn't been the best person for the past couple of months. He really had been shitty to everyone around him. The realization brought a new emotion to the plethora he was already feeling. Shame. How much had his friends been suffering because of him?

"Like your father would allow that." Neji murmured, his voice slightly shaking. The last thing he needed was Sasuke to get mixed up in his bullshit, even if this was all hypothetical.

"Fuck him too."

Neji tried to laugh again, but it came out more like a half chuckle, half sob. He was crying. All the emotions running through his brain came out through his eyes, and he couldn't stop it. He quickly wiped away in involuntary tears, "Shit, I'm sorry" He let out a shaky breathe trying his best to stop. Sasuke wrapped an arm around Neji's shoulders, which only made the tears fall more.

"It's okay. I get it."

Neji let in a long breath through his now stuffy nose and out his mouth. Once the tears stopped, Sasuke patted his shoulder a few times before letting go. Neji wiped his face one more time, "I feel like I've been a shitty friend, hell, a shitty person, the past couple months. Here you are with the exact same problem and finding a solution while I'm over here sulking and ignoring everyone. I'm god damn pathetic."

"Well, if it any consolation, I think everyone's shitty all the time, including me."

Neji successfully laughed this time with no tears. "I just got a part-time job. I guess I can buy supplies with the checks. Now that its cooler, I can keep what I buy in my car. Hell, maybe I'll start skipping and attend some art classes before my utter doom."

Sasuke stood from his spot, stretching his back. "Take control before it's taken away forever."

Neji only hummed as a reply.

"I'm going to head out. One of my classes is going to start in about an hour."

He started to walk away as Neji stood from his spot, "You drove you, asshole. Bring me back first."

"Well then, keep up, or I'll leave you behind."

Both boys walked down the hill away from the tree. Take control before it was taken away forever. Was it really that easy? Neji sighed through his nose as he followed his friend out of the park area. There was no harm in trying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :)


	4. Good Enough?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, How's it going. Welcome back!
> 
> WARNING: This story hits pretty hard on depression and thoughts of suicide.

Iruka woke up early Friday morning to get ready. Today was the day he started his sessions with his new patient. He wanted to wake up early to clean his office and make sure all his paperwork was aligned. Coming in at this hour was different than when he usually went in. Everyone naturally arrived around the same time, causing a busy hustle and bustle through the halls. This early in the morning, only a few janitors lurked the corridors finishing the last bit of cleaning before the shift change. It was a little creepy, with random shadows passing by making Iruka jump every now and again. Only a few lights were illuminating his path. The sun was absent from the sky, making the windows pitch black. Iruka was happy to get into his office and turn the lights on. It was a relieving contrast to the dark hallways. He didn't stand against his door for long, quickly placing all of his things in his closet.

Iruka made the mistake of reading the entire file in one sitting. The record was extensive, with an expanse of different diagnoses and treatments. None of them were concrete. Everything from BPD to HPD, hell some said the boy had both. Medications were being thrown left and right, some just after the first session. It didn't give Iruka a clear picture, which made him worried. The kid had seen so many doctors and psychologists that too many opinions were being thrown around. If this boy was capable of what he was being accused of, this appointment could be dangerous. A single trigger word could set him off. This was why he needed to come into the office early. He wanted to look more carefully through the notes and see if there was a pattern. One small detail that would give him an edge in the session starting just hours from now.

Iruka sat back in his chair with a huff. It took hours for him to read through the file again carefully. He only noticed when the sun started peaking through his curtains, and casual conversation could be heard outside the door. Iruka yawned, stretching out his aching back. There was no point in reading any further. The record was just as jumbled as it was the first time he read it. The only way to get a gauge on this kid would be to talk to him. The time on the clock showed his patient being there in about two hours. Maybe he could get a quick nap in before then. Iruka laid his head down, calming the mild headache that formed over the past few hours. A sharp knock on the door jolted him awake. He looked at his clock, wiping the drool that was rolling down his chin. His appointment was in five minutes, which meant they were most likely the ones knocking on his door. Iruka stood, straightening his clothes and rubbing his eyes. The last thing he needed was them thinking he was sleeping on the job. Opening the door, Iruka was met with two faces. One he recognized instantly, the boy that has been plaguing his mind the past few days. His vibrant red hair was hard to miss. The other he didn't recognize. The man wore a stern expression, almost reminding Iruka of his boss. Regardless, Iruka invited the taller man and the boy into the room, shutting the door behind them.

"I'm sorry, I would normally have my door open, but I lost track of time," Iruka stated, scratching the back of his head.

"It is quite alright. We are a bit early." The man had a booming voice and heavy accent that made Iruka's insides jump. "You are Iruka Umino, I presume."

"Ah, yes, and you are..."

"Baki."

Iruka waited an awkward minute for the last name, but nothing came. "Right, Baki. It's nice to meet you. You must be..."

"I am Gaara's caretaker for the time being while he is here," Baki interrupted again. "And you are meant to be his new psychologist."

"Yes, I hope we all work together well." There was another awkward pause. This was definitely not going how Iruka expected it to. Maybe he should move on from the over intimidating caretaker. "Well, Gaara, it's nice to meet you as well."

The boy seemed to take no notice of him, looking around the room. There was a possibility that the boy didn't hear him, or this could be something more.

"Gaara, it is poor manners to ignore someone," Baki's voice boomed through the room. Gaara slowly turned to Iruka and gave a short nod. So he did hear him. Throughout the boy's file, there were several accounts of him staying entirely silent. Some psychologists not even getting a word out of him for over a year. Apparently, Iruka was getting the silent treatment.

"I guess we should get started. We only have an hour." Iruka made his way to his chair and sat down. He expected Baki to leave and Gaara to sit down, but neither happened. Both didn't move. Iruka looked between the both of them, once again thinking they might not have heard him.

"Ah, Gaara, you can sit down in the chair if you want. Baki, would it be okay if you stepped outside. There are some chairs and couches right outside..."

"It would be highly advised that I stay in the room." Iruka didn't like that idea. Unique case or not, there was no chance of getting truthful answers with a guardian in the room. "Maybe you could wait right outside the door? I can even keep the door cracked."

This provoked a grumble out of Baki, who then looked over to Gaara. The redhead found a point of interest, staring at a small succulent on the corner of the desk. Adjusting his turban, he let out a sigh from his nose, "This is not recommended."

"If anything happens, I'll let you know," Iruka smiled.

Was this boy really that dangerous? Iruka wasn't a fool. Violence had no face, but this seemed a bit excessive. His current guardian looked to almost sweat at the thought of leaving him alone with someone else. Baki sighed out his nose and turned to leave. "Behave yourself," he grumbled to Gaara as he walked out the door, shutting it just enough to crack it.

"Well, now that we're alone, my name is Iruka Umino."

He stuck his hand out to shake but was met with no response, not even a glance down. Iruka wasn't expecting him to do anything. There was no reason for Gaara to treat him any differently than the other psychologists he's seen. The redhead didn't even move his eyes when Iruka spoke to him. He was transfixed with the small browning cactus on the desk. Iruka took notice of this, "I bought it because they told me they're hard to kill. I don't have a green thumb, you see."

The plant had been browning more and more ever since he purchased it. Gaara moved then, just his arm. He brushed the tips of his fingers across the mini spines, then pressed into them. Iruka stayed quiet, watching the boy push his fingers harder into the spikes. Just when Iruka was about to protest about him hurting himself, Gaara pulled his fingers away.

Iruka waited an awkward second before filling the dead air. Maybe the best way to get to Gaara wasn't casual talk but through his interests. "I don't know what's wrong with it." Iruka looked down at the sad little plant, "They told me at the store I didn't need to water it much, but maybe..."

"Sunlight."

Iruka looked up at the boy who was no longer looking at the succulent. It took everything in his being to not smile at his response. Mundane conversation wasn't going to work with this kid. In this situation, he needed to be interested in the topic to get a response.

Iruka now just needed to figure out what Gaara was interested in to keep him talking. He started by moving the plant to the window ceil. "Well, I guess this will do better over here then." Iruka didn't take his eyes off of Gaara when he moved the plant. His shoulders seemed to relax by a small fraction. This stacked another possible problem onto the first; Gaara was uncomfortable. He was hiding it well; his posture showed no signs of being tense, breathing was smooth and calm. To the untrained eye, Gaara simply looked bored. Iruka racked his brain. How on earth would he make this kid who's seen more psychologists than he could count comfortable? Knowing about plants was a start, but Gaara was from the desert. It probably was common knowledge over there.

On the other hand, the dying plant seemed to make him more anxious before moved, so maybe he liked plants. "See, I'm terrible. A friend of mine tried to give me a ribbon plant for the same reason. It only lasted a week," Iruka chuckled. There was no response, not even a twitch. Plants were too broad of a subject; he needed to narrow it.

"After the ribbon plant, I went to the botanical garden a few miles up. They got me this little succulent because they're nearly impossible to kill. Guess I'm proving them wrong, huh?" Once again, the response was minimal, a shift in weight from one heel to the other. He was still uncomfortable, maybe a little annoyed. Had Gaara caught on to what he was doing? Iruka now had to be careful. A mild annoyance could blow up quickly with a potentially violent teen. "Is there a difference between a succulent and a cactus? They look like little cacti to me."

"They are one, in the same."

Iruka would have smiled if it wasn't for the tiny frown that appeared on his face. He decided to back off plants' subject, for now, not wanting to break the thin ice he was treading on. Gaara started looking around the room again. Iruka didn't interrupt him so he could think. What caused the drop in mood. He seemed okay with the plants before, but something changed. A sad memory perhaps, or maybe Gaara didn't like the idea of him killing a cactus. Either way, the boy's focus found a painting on a wall. It was a bright grassy flower field with a wood cabin off to the left. "Do you like it?" Iruka asked, slouching back in his chair. He tried to make his posture as unconfrontational as possible, hoping to subconsciously ease Gaara's mind.

There was a wide birth of silence. "It's sad."

An odd answer in Iruka's opinion, but he wasn't surprised. Paintings were subjective, and anyone could read whatever they wanted from them. The grassy field was, in his mind, was peaceful. A nice breath of fresh air. Iruka sat back up in his chair, "Why is it sad?"

The response was almost immediate, "It doesn't have a cactus."

Gaara's face remained neutral while Iruka tried his best to stay the same. Was that a joke? If it was, then there were two paths that Gaara's mind might be on. One, Gaara was still very uncomfortable and is joking to help ease his mind. Two, He knew exactly what Iruka was doing, and the joke was a hint of that. All the warnings and paperwork let on that it was the latter. Now there was a small fraction of a chance that Gaara really was sad about there not being a cactus in the picture, but that seemed silly. Assuming that Gaara figured out his plan, there was no reason to hide his intentions.

"Alright, you got me," Iruka sighed, putting his hands up. "Guess that method has been used on you before."

"Once or twice." For the first time in the entire session, Gaara looked at Iruka directly. Though his face was still flat, Iruka could detect a hint of amusement in his eyes. Iruka laughed; so much for not being outsmarted. This boy had been testing him since he walked through the doorway. He almost wanted to commend the redhead. The strategy was an excellent way of learning his methods.

"So how about instead me trying and failing to get inside your head, we just talk. Of course, you don't have to."

Gaara moved from the painting to the chair and sat down, still staring at the older man. Iruka immediately felt the air in the room shift. Gaara's back straightened as he crossed his arms; the small look of amusement never left. Iruka sat back in his seat. This was very different from before. The vibes this boy was giving off were unsettling rather than uncomfortable. Either this boy was very good intimidation, or Iruka was about to be attacked. Gaara crossed one leg over the other, raising his chin, looking down at him. His face changed to an icy glare. He didn't make a move toward the psychologist, not even a flinch. Iruka felt like he was being studied. Like a computer was scanning his very soul for any flaws. They stared at each other, the tension in the room building for an unknown amount of time. Though Iruka was thoroughly unsettled, he wondered if this was another act. Another test to see if he'd pass. The brunette forced himself to relax despite his speeding heart.

"Is there anything you want to talk about Gaara?" Iruka made sure that his voice didn't waver when he spoke. Any hint that he was actually intimidated could give Gaara the upper hand.

The boy said nothing as the staring contest continued, Iruka staying as relaxed as he could. Then he thought of something. Something so stupid that it might just throw the kid off enough to ease the air.

"Can you eat a cactus?"

The glare shifted immediately to a blank stare, which then morphed into a small smile and a head tilt.

"I was just wondering because they're so spiky, figured it would hurt."

Iruka was rewarded with a broader grin and a small chuckle. The brunette himself couldn't stop himself from laughing a bit, placing a hand in front of his mouth to prevent it. He knew that this kid was aware that he was acting stupid on purpose, but that might have been how to answer the invisible question Gaara asked. Iruka was sure this was a test to see how he would react to the boy's mood change. The problem was, did he pass?

Gaara stood slowly from the chair, walking toward the door. Iruka quirked an eyebrow. "The time," the redhead muttered as he placed his hand on the doorknob.

Iruka quickly looked at his clock and realized it had been an hour already. He couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed and relieved. No one told him he'd have to take a test today. Regardless he stood and followed Gaara out the door where Baki was already standing. There must have been a look on his face because Baki immediately gave a glare at the boy. "I thought I told you to behave yourself." His voice boomed through the hallway. The redhead only made a slight bow of the head as an apology. Baki then turned to Iruka, "I apologize for his behavior, he knows it is unacceptable and was taught better than that."

The brunette raised his hands, "No, no he's fine. He didn't do anything really." Gaara's methods must have been why Baki wanted to stay in the room. Iruka wondered if Gaara had a habit of 'testing' the psychologists he had before saying anything substantial.

"I would hope that you will review this session first before starting him on any new medication." Baki's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. The look on the caretaker's face almost looked concerned. These tests must have had some negative consequences.

"What? Oh, no. I think it would be a better idea to have a few more sessions first, wouldn't you agree Gaara?" Iruka smiled at him. He wanted this boy to know that there was no more need for tests. There was almost a look of shock on the redhead's face for only a second, then a brief nod.

Baki also nodded; his eyes seemed a bit more relieved, "Right well, we will be back in two weeks."

They started to walk away, but Iruka still had that one burning question on his tongue. "Did I pass?" He shouted loud enough for the redhead to stop and look back.

"Perhaps."

Iruka smiled. It was better than nothing.

Neji laid his head on the flat of his desk. Gaara wasn't in class today, which wasn't a bad thing. Their last interaction wasn't necessarily positive. Both attempting to get on each other's nerves wasn't an excellent way to progress forward in this project. Come to think of it, what progress have they made in this assignment. What in the actual fuck did Neij know about Gaara, honestly? He ate disgusting food, had a pet raccoon, and was an asshole. That was about it. There was no way he was going to pass this class. Then his Uncle would kick him out of the house with no money. He'd be homeless.

Fuck him.

Sasuke's words rang through his head. That was easier said than done. He was trying. His job started at the beginning of the week. Once he got the money from that, he could buy some paint but was that smart. If he failed this class and got kicked out, he'd be broke. Maybe it would be wiser to save the checks for the inevitable. Apartments were not cheap. Perhaps he should look into that. Calculate how much he would need to keep. Neji rolled his head over.

Damn, he didn't even know how much he was going to get paid. That wasn't the priority at the time. Now, if he was going to move, he needed to know. What if he didn't get paid enough to rent. He could get a second job. Could he deal with that? Two jobs, plus school, and the tyrant that was his Uncle. The list made his head throb. If he got another job, he would defiantly have the money but would he be happy. When would he have time to paint or do anything for that matter. He had no experience with a job, but there was no doubt it was tiring. What life would he be living if all he did was work and sleep with no time for the passion he wanted to do in the first place. He was getting ahead of himself. There was no concrete proof that he wouldn't pass this class. No substantial evidence he wouldn't make enough money if he did fail. There could be a possibility his Uncle wouldn't care. Neji scoffed at his own outrageous thought.

Right now, the best solution would be to try and pass this class. The problem was, where the fuck was Gaara today. Neji growled out loud, rubbing his head; this was stupid. What was he doing in this class right now? Giving himself a headache while wallowing in his own miserable life. He gathered his bag and walked out of the classroom. Staying in there wasn't a good idea, but what could he do for the next thirty minutes.

Take control before it's take away.

Sasuke's words echoed in his head again. He pondered whether any art classes were going on at the time but had no idea where to look. Neji started to wander around the building with no particular direction looking through room windows occasionally. Maybe he'd get lucky a happen upon an art class. After the fifth classroom, he stopped and sighed. This wasn't supposed to be this hard. Sasuke goes to another school to attend other courses, and he could even find one inside the school. Maybe he should go back to class. He can think of another plan later. Neji turned around, almost running into someone behind him. Both jumped, the other dropping some things out of his hands.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention," Neji mumbled, bending to help pick up whatever dropped. He froze when he saw paint brushes rolling away.

"Obviously, not." The other sighed, picking up the rest of the paintbrushes.

Neji swallowed the ping of annoyance that came with that response reminding himself that he ran into the other. Both stood, Neji's eyes not leaving the brushes in the other's hand. They were both the same height, but the other was pale, extremely pale. He almost looked sick.

"Are you in an art class?" Neji asked, ignoring the other complexion.

The other male gave a gentle smile, "You ask a lot of obvious questions."

That time the annoyance hit him like a stab in the chest. What the fuck was wrong with this guy, and what was up with the smile. It looked almost fake, which was even more aggravating. Despite the want to glare at the other male, he kept his face neutral. Based on the other's irritating answer, he was in an art class, and that's all he needed to know.

"Where is your class?" Neji droned. He was trying his best to not sound annoyed, which made him seem bored.

"Oh, I was heading there right now. You can follow me." The strange man began walking away, still grinning.

Neji almost groaned, rolling his eyes. He would rather go by himself, but progress is progress. Silently, he walked behind the strange student. Even his uniform was odd. The gray collared shirt was much too small for him, showing too much of his waist. The navy blue pants were the same, showing his ankles.

"What is your name, stone face."

Another spear of annoyance struck Neji right in the back. He couldn't tell if this guy was making fun of him or just stupid.

"Neji," he growled out in a cold tone, no longer able to hide his disdain.

The man turned, walking backward with the smile still plastered on his face, "Nice to meet you Neji. My name is Sai." He shuffled the items in his hands to one arm so he could stick one hand out to shake. Neji looked down at his hand, then back at Sai, making no move to shake hands. After a moment, the smile dropped into a confused frown.

"Hm, so cold."

That comment broke Neji's neutral face into a glare.

"I read in a book that it's polite to shake hands after an introduction in this region."

Neji was being pranked. It was the only explanation for what was happening right now. He turned to see if anyone was behind him, waiting to jump out and say 'got ya.' When he turned back, Sai's expression changed back into a smile.

"Ah, I forgot that bowing is also excepted. There are to many things in my hand to do that at the moment.."

"It's unnecessary. Just show me where the art class is." The ice never left Neji's words. He just wanted one thing, one simple damn thing, and it was turning into a one-man circus.

"Freezing cold and straight to the point."

"I don't like wasting time," Neji growled. He was about thirty seconds from leaving for his own sanity.

Sai stopped seeming to think for a minute then nodded to himself. "Yes well, lets get going then Ice Queen."

That was the nail in the coffin; Neji was done. He'd find the class another way. Right now, he needed to get away from this guy before he killed him. Without uttering another word, he turned and walked away. There had to be another way to find art classes. Neji wandered down the halls closer to the entrance. He leaned up against the walls next to the doors. He knew as soon as he walked away from that guy he had made a mistake. This school was huge, and there was no way he'd be able to find one class out of possibly hundreds.

"Fuck," he cursed to himself quietly. Maybe if he ran, he could catch up to him. Though that's what he thought, his body said otherwise. Instead, he turned, pressing his forehead on the cold glass door looking out at the world in front of him. Maybe he should just leave again.

"Excuse me."

Neji turned quickly to see a woman standing behind him. She wasn't in school uniform, so she must have been a teacher of some kind, which means he was probably in trouble. He only bowed his head in response.

"Are you okay? Do you need help?"

"U-um," That certainly wasn't what he was expecting. "I was just lost. I'm looking for the art classes."

"Did you just transfer classes or..."

There was no point in lying. She could look up his schedule in seconds. "No my first class is almost like a free period so I wanted to make better use of my time."

"Hm, how about we sit in my office we'll see what we can do."

Neji nodded, following into a small room near the entrance. He almost felt giddy at how easy this seemed. Would she really just tell him where to go? She sat down at her small desk while Neji sat in the uncomfortably hard chair. Though the office was tiny, it was nice. The walls were a light, calm blue with white trim. It was uncluttered with only one small shelf with some pictures and trinkets. Her desk was neat with papers in their proper places, nothing in disarray. On the desk was her nameplate. 'Shizune, guidance counselor.' Now he understood why she was so willing to help rather than send him back to class. He kicked himself for not thinking of this first.

"What's your name?"

"Neji Hyuga."

She typed away at her computer until his name popped up. "Okay, it looks like you have college level psychology with Kakashi Hatake as your first class."

He nodded.

"Have you gotten permission from him to attend another class?"

Shit. Of course, this wasn't going to be that easy. Things never really went his way now and days. "No I have not," he sighed.

Shizune looked at the subtle look of disappointment on the boy's face. She sighed, "How about we strike a deal." She reached into a drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper, handing it to him. "Fill this out and have Kakashi sign it, then I'll personally take you to the art class of your choosing. Neji took the paper, quickly looking through it. It was a class transfer form.

Anxiety immediately filled his chest. If he changed his schedule, and his Uncle found out would result in disaster. "I-I don't want to transfer classes. I would like to take both if possible."

"All I really need is Kakashi's signature, and a document showing you can be in the class. I won't change your schedule."

Neji couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, "Thank you."

"Now comes the dilemma of which class you want to take. There are four different art classes going on during this period."

His heart skipped a beat; he never thought that he would have options.

"You have graphic design working with photoshop. There's art history, life drawing, and Sansui studies."

He took a second to think. Three of those didn't sound appealing, and he had no idea what Sansui studies were. He must have taken longer than he realized because Shizune spoke up. "How about this what do you like to do?"

"Painting is my main focus."

"So Sansui studies it is. I think you'll like it in there."

Neji still had no idea what that was, but he would take it if it involved painting.

"Okay, thank you for the help."

"Of course, and Neji if you ever want to talk about anything, you let me know okay?"

He nodded again before leaving the small room. Looking at the time, he didn't have time to get to class to ask Kakashi now. It would have to wait until next week. Regardless he felt good again. There was hope.

Hinata wandered around the lunch area in search of Gaara. She didn't exactly know what she wanted to talk to him about. Maybe thank him for giving Neji the job opportunity. Maybe ask if they could be friends. If Ten-Ten couldn't help him out, Gaara might be able to. Hinata rubbed her temples. Neji's situation was already stressful but now having to talk to multiple people and gather information. Was slightly wearing on her brain. She was always worrying about him. Every time he was depressed, it made her more worried. What if he decided to end it? She didn't think she could handle that. The thought almost brought tears to her eyes. After a few minutes of searching, she decided it would be better to sit with Naruto and wait. He didn't show up every lunch period, but they traded those jars of stuff more often than not. Naruto was already sitting and eating when she made it to the bench. He greeted her with a smile when she sat down but immediately retracted it for a look of worry.

"Hey, are you okay? You look a little stressed out." Hinata couldn't help but smile him back.

"I'm okay, thank you," she sighed out.

Naruto gave her a look that instantly read 'I don't believe you.' He scooted his tray away and turned to fully face her. "Alright, I'm all ears."

"Naruto, I'm okay really."

He shook his head, "I'm not excepting that and you know it."

Hinata looked away from him. There was no possible way that she could tell him what was going on with Neji. It wasn't just about Neji not liking him all that much either. Naruto was determined to a fault. If something was wrong with somebody, he'd try and help no matter the feelings toward him. Her cousin was already hated being bothered by people. To be annoyed by Naruto continuously would send him overboard. Not to mention the only way Naruto would find out would be through her, which Neji would know instantly. If she was going to lose him, it wouldn't be over something so preventable. She glanced over to him. His blue eyes were piercing and serious—such a difference from his everyday happy, determined look.

Hinata sighed, "Naruto, I..." He shooted closer to her, never reverting his attention.

"Your right, there is something wrong but I can't talk about it right now."

His brow furrowed, scratching his chin, "Hmm, it's Neji isn't it?"

"Naruto..."

The blond shot up, clenching fists in the air, "I'm right aren't I!? You guys seemed really weird a while ago."

Hinata grabbed his arm, "Please leave him alone Naruto. He's just having a little bit of trouble personally right now. He'll be fine."

Naruto went silent, still scratching his chin. Hinata knew this look very well; he was thinking of a plan. One that she knew she wasn't going to like.

"I know! Gaara told me he's his partner in class right? I can have him talk to him," he said, sitting back down.

Hinata almost thought her heart had stopped. "What?"

"Hinata, I know Neji doesn't like me to much. If I talk to him he's probably try to brake my arm again but Gaara super calm like all the time. Neji won't get mad at him."

She could only stare at him. That plan was actually precisely what she was going to do. Usually, Naruto's schemes resulted in him getting punched and the person worse off. Eventually, somehow, he would turn it around, but the beginning was always rough, to say the least. Hinata decided to jump on this blessing in disguise.

"D-do you think you could talk to him then. Just ask him if he could check on him."

It wasn't like she wasn't willing to do this herself; in fact, on the off chance that Naruto said no, she would still find Gaara and talk to him. But Naruto knew Gaara, and he could probably convince him easier than she could.

He smiled, "I got it Hinata. He's not gonna be at lunch today but I'll see him right after school."

She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, "Thank you, so much."

After lunch, Naruto went through his classes with Hinata's request on his mind. He wondered what was going on to cause Hinata not to talk to her cousin. Maybe he should speak to Neji himself. He had never seen Hinata so stressed out before, and that was unacceptable. But he also felt like if he did talk to Neji, Hinata would be even more stressed. Just then, he was hit with an epiphany. "I'll just talk to both of them!" Naruto shouted out loud.

"Naruto Uzumaki is there something you would like to share with the class!" The teacher yelled from across the room.

He gave his biggest grin, "Hm? Ah, nah, I was just thinking out loud about how I'm going to ace this class."

The teacher rolled his eyes, "Then pay more attention please."

"Yes sir!" That answer worked every time, even if he was currently failing the class. He took the time to text Gaara to meet him by the bikes so they could talk.

By the time the end of school, Naruto was practically bouncing out of his shoes. Typically, he would meet with Hinata to say bye to her, then he and Gaara would bike halfway home. They would split for Gaara to go to work from time to time. This time was a little different because Gaara didn't cycle with him to school. He waited by the bikes until he saw a plume of red make it way up.

"Gaara! Hey buddy!"

The redhead met with the blonde, only standing a few feet away from him. Naruto closed the distance wrapping his arm around the other's shoulders, shaking the other male. His redheaded friend didn't talk much, but Naruto could tell he was feeling a bit down. He usually gave at least a little response. "What's wrong dude? Did the appointment not go well?"

Gaara shook his head, "It was fine but I didn't get much today."

It took Naruto a second before the lightbulb went off, "Oh, shit I forgot you collect most of your stuff during first period don't you?"

Gaara nodded solemnly.

"Hm, maybe after work today. It's near the forest you can pick up a few things there..."

The redhead shook his head.

Naruto sighed, "No time for that huh?"

The blonde only got a subtle look as a response. "Damn, maybe I can pick some stuff up for you. I can stick it all in a plastic bag and leave it at your door for you in the morning."

It took a second, but he eventually received a nod and gentle smile from the other. "Thanks."

"No problem! Don't worry I'll get you so many sticks and stuff you won't know what to do with them." Naruto's exuberant moment caused Gaara to stumble foreword removing Naruto's arm before he fell.

"Sorry about that," Naruto laughed.

"It's alright." Gaara gave a small smirk at Naruto's excitement. "What did you need?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! I needed to ask you something. Do you know what's going on with Neji? He's acting super weird."

For the first time since Naruto met Gaara, the redhead put on an unreadable mask, not responding to the blonde's question.

Naruto frowned, "Aw man don't tell me you don't want to tell me either? Hinata seemed so worried today. Something must be really wrong with him."

Gaara once again didn't respond but looked off to the side.

"I guess I'll have to shake it out of him." Naruto announced, colliding his fist in his open palm.

The redhead turned to his friend, his face mildly worried, "I don't think that's good idea."

"Yeah well, I don't want Hinata to worry and even though Neji's kind of an ass he's not that bad of a guy. I'll just dodge him when he tried to break my arm. I'll be expecting it this time."

"Break your arm?"

"Well, he didn't really try to break it." Naruto rubbed the wrist in question, "but it got bruised up pretty bad. Had to ice it for a couple days."

There was a moment of silence before Gaara spoke again, almost a little too quiet to hear. "I can talk to him."

"You will! Awesome! Just tell him he's worrying his cousin a lot. Maybe with the both of us he'll listen." Naruto bounced up and down the redhead following his movements with his eyes.

"We can take turns," Gaara said quickly, his eyes slightly wider than before.

"Huh?" Naruto stopped bouncing.

"A game. I'll go first."

"Really? You think that's a good idea?" The blond quirked an eyebrow. He really wanted to talk to Neji as soon as he could.

"Yes. It's more subtle, he'll be more likely to listen."

Naruto scratched his chin, thinking for a moment until finally conceding. "I guess your right, but tell me as soon as it's my turn alright?"

Gaara nodded, looking slightly more relieved.

"Okay! I'm sure this will work out. Neji loves his cousin to death. As soon as he hears that she's worried, I'm sure he'll talk to her."

The redhead couldn't help but smile at his friend's positive attitude while looking down at his phone. "Alright, I have to go."

"Got it! Thanks man. Let me know how it goes. Tell Baki I said 'Hi'!"

Gaara nodded as he turned to make his way to the parking lot. Naruto waited until his friend was out of sight before grabbing his bike to ride to the nearest park. Surely he could find some good sticks and dirt there for his quiet friend.

Neji looked in his bathroom mirror for about the fifth time in the past ten minutes. Today was the day for the art show that Ten-Ten had invited him to. The dress shirt and slacks he had picked out were just a bit loose. Actually, they were way too loose. If it wasn't apparent that he had lost some weight, it was now. The sleeves were to loose around the arms, and the slacks were just a little to slack. He tried rolling the sleeves up to his elbows, which helped, but the pants were still too loose looking. Maybe if he untucked his shirt? He ripped the shirt from his pants line then straightened the hem down. It looked better? Certainly fit the more casual look of his sleeves rolled up. Neji let out an aggravated sigh. He was always particular about how he looked, but he just couldn't get it right this time. What was more aggravating was that he didn't know why he was obsessing so much. All he needed was some nice clothes and a quick brush through the hair, and he was ready. Unfortunately, no matter what he did, he looked pale, tired, and his clothes were too big. He knew he shouldn't care this much. It was Ten-Ten and a casual art show. Ten-Ten was his best friend; she wouldn't care what he looked like. The art show was an informal showing; most would probably be dressed in jeans rather than slacks. Neji grumbled to himself as he left his bathroom to find some jeans. Hopefully, he had a pair that used to be a little tight on him.

Ten-Ten had texted him about ten minutes ago that she was here, but it took Neji awhile to make sure the jeans and dress shirt looked presentable. When he finally sat in the passenger seat of her car, she gave him a soft smile. "What took you so long? You're never late."

"I had some trouble finding some pants," he grumbled, not wanting to get into the subject. The whole ordeal made him aggravated.

"Ever the stickler for looks. At least that hasn't changed."

Neji didn't respond to the obvious jab at his current attitude. He knew Ten-Ten would try to get him to talk about things even if it got him riled up. Though he knew it would happen, it didn't stop the stab of annoyance that hit him in the chest. He just wanted to be left alone. Was that so hard for people to understand? When Neji didn't respond, Ten Ten sighed, putting the car in drive, and left the house. She really wanted to figure out where Neji's head was at, but she didn't want to ruin the opportunity before she even had the chance to ask. The car ride there was eerily quiet. Neji took his time staring out the window while Ten Ten tried to think of something to say to him. Maybe if she didn't focus on him for the ride there, then on the ride back, they could talk about the art and ease into what's going on. Ten-Ten nodded to herself, hardening her resolve.

"So I think I found an internship with a blade-smith. He seemed really excited about taking on a student but he doesn't know if he'll have the time."

Neji looked away from the window at her only to give a small grunt and turn back. Ten-Ten didn't know how to take that reply. Was he not interested? Did he not care, or was this one of the grunts that meant he had nothing to add to it. He probably didn't care, but she couldn't take the eternal silence, and they still had fifteen minutes of driving.

"I should be able to make something a lot bigger than a couple knives with him teaching me. It'll be awesome right?"

Neji didn't respond. She did notice that a small frown seemed to appear on his face. Ten-Ten knew that Neji really had no interest in her career, but he was never this rude about it. He a least would entertain her with the conversation.

"You know you could at least acknowledge the fact that I'm talking to you."

He let out a big sigh through his nose and lifted his head off the window to look at her. "Congratulations," he muttered, letting his head fall back on the window with a loud thunk. Ten-Ten stared at his now glaring face before turning her eyes back to the road. It took every ounce of resolve not to give up on this whole thing and kick him out of her car. But he was her friend; despite his attitude now, the Neji she knows and loves is in there somewhere. Once he got into this art show, maybe he would cheer up a little bit. The rest of the drive was tense, at least for Ten Ten. She could feel Neji's bad mood radiating off of his body, and it was chilling her skin. Now she truly understood why many girls called him cold and unfeeling. It was almost hard to be around him. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when they finally pulled up to the parking area and got out of the car. Ten-Ten felt a weight lift away as she got a little further away from her angry friend. Looking back at him, he was lagging behind with his hands in his pockets, looking down, abusing a few pebbles that happened to be in his path. She told herself as they walked to the show that everything would get better when they got inside.

The art show was being held in an art museum within the city. The large white building which had several large sculptures outside for people to look at. Inside was separated into two sections, one for the art show and one for regular patrons. The duo made their way to a woman standing in front of a glass door.

"Welcome. Are you two here for the art show?"

"Yeah," Ten-Ten pulled out the two tickets handing them to the woman. The receptionist took the slips of paper and exchanged them for two brochures.

"Alright, your free to go. This show is specializing in independent environment painters. Our museum loves to support the local art talent in the city. We ask that you please do not touch any of the paintings on display. There are staff in there as well if you have any questions."

The woman opened the door letting the two of them inside. A relatively large number of people wandered around from piece to piece, expressing their thoughts and feelings. Anyone could instantly tell who the artists were, lingering around their painting, looking either nervous or overly confident. Ten-Ten handed one of the pamphlets over to Neji, "So where should we start? Is there anyone in particular you wanted to see?" Neji didn't take the time to look through the booklet. There was no reason for it; he wanted to see all of them anyway. So he walked off without a word hoping that Ten-Ten could entertain herself. Her attempt at conversation in the car bothered him more than it should have. He felt so bitter that she could do whatever she wanted while he was stuck being miserable. The bitter feeling brought guilt right after that because he shouldn't be bitter at all. He should be happy that she's able to follow her dreams. Those two feelings only led to anger, which was bleeding through to the outside. Neji took a couple deep breaths trying to shake the anger but damn it, if he wasn't pissed off.

Walking up to the first painting, distracted his mind a bit. It was a simple white house in a grass field with a few trees scattered here and there. It looked like it was done in pastels, the colors soft and pale. He could almost feel the breeze through the grass and leaves. At first glance, the painting looked peaceful and quiet, but he could tell in very subtle detail. The little white house was abandoned. Small strokes of black paint showed the rotting brick and broken windows. Veins of dark green showed vines trying to burry it into the ground. It was a brilliant take on what most would think is peaceful, changing it into something sad and forgotten. It definitely didn't help Neji's mood at all. He thought back to his own paintings. He never thought to put something subtle like that in any of them. Now he knew pastel wasn't really his style; him being more into hyper-realism, he used acrylic, but that didn't matter. Did his paintings ever mean anything? Did they need to?

Ten Ten walked up beside him, looking at the art as well. "Wow, It's pretty, almost peaceful don't you think?"

Neji almost rolled his eyes. It was the exact simple response he was expecting out of her. Once again, there was no reason to be mad, but he felt the anger bubble up in his chest. Her lack of understanding was bothering him for no reason. If she saw his works, would she give the same simple answer? Were his paintings simple? He grunted in response. There was no reason to go into detail about his thoughts.

He noticed the next one by the fiery color blasting out at him. Walking over to it slowly, it looked like it was moving. Unlike the last one, this painting was hyper-realistic, just like his but presented more. In the foreground, an autumn forest in acrylic paint so vibrant it could be seen from miles away. The leaves burned red, orange, and gold, flowing in the wind littering the ground their color. Bits of green poked through the warm colors as the grass tried desperately to make itself known to the world. The background was like the fall season hadn't hit yet. Through the dark brown tree trunks of the fire trees, dark green coniferous littered the environment. The lighting was soft, peaking through the trees lighting up in just the right places. There was no hidden message here, like in the other one, just pure beauty. Neji couldn't take his eyes off of it. He'd never seen a painting that looked like it was in motion. He could feel its breeze, smell the trees. The scent reminded him of the forest behind the school. There was no possible way in his wildest dreams that he could achieve this level of realism. None of his paintings made him feel this way. The awestruck feeling was replaced with something sickening. He felt his throat tighten, and his stomach squeeze. A question, a frightening question, bridged his brain. Were his paintings ever beautiful to begin with? Hinata had told him as much, but she would say that regardless of what they looked like. Neji had to leave this one before Ten-Ten made her way over. He might vomit.

Neji walked to the next one, which was more contemporary. A painting of a crumpled newspaper on a wet sidewalk. The water on the sidewalk was just reflective enough to see people walking past with umbrellas. Inside the paper was a beautiful forest, with a family of deer eating a patch of grass. The color contrast was striking. The vibrant greens, blues, and yellows cut straight through the grey outside world. Yet again, there was more to it than just what could be seen at first glance. In the spots where the paper hit the ground and was wet, the forest was burnt. The trees and grass changed from green to charcoal black and ash grey.

At this point, Neji couldn't help but feel inadequate. It made him wonder if he tried to submit his work to this show, would they even get accepted. Maybe what Hanabi said was true those few months ago. Perhaps he wasn't that good at all. Almost in an instant, Neji felt his stomach squeeze painfully. He tried to calm it, taking a shaky breath through his nose, but it wasn't helping. Neji took a hard swallow, blinked his watery eyes, then swallowed again. A phrase more frightening and terrible than the others filled his brain.

You're not good enough.

The brunettes head started to pound, he felt dizzy. His stomach tightened and twisted again, resulting in another hard swallow. Neji backed away from the artwork. He couldn't look at it anymore. He didn't deserve to look at it anymore.

You were never good enough.

Grabbing his chest, he tried to take another deep breath, but it wasn't working. Oxygen wasn't making it to his brain very well, making him panic. He felt the bile start to burn his throat. Ten-Ten looked over to her friend and noticed his distressed state. Before she could even make a comment, Neji rushed off to the bathroom. He hurried into one of the stalls just before emptying what little he had in his stomach. The mere thought of him not being any good was sickening. He had been painting for years, and now he was figuring out that he wasn't good enough.  
There was undoubtedly no competing with these guys. As his heart rate increased, he felt his chest tighten. It was getting harder to breathe for some reason. Neji tried his best to swallow down some air, but it wasn't reaching his lungs. The less oxygen reaching his lungs, the more he started to panic. With his chest hurting, his eyes burning, he felt like he was drowning above water. He needed to get out of here. After a few more panicked breaths, he stood and rushed out of the door, pushing past Ten-Ten. He heard her call for him, but he had to leave before losing all the air he had left. Neji was far into the parking lot before Ten-Ten stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Neji, what the hell? Are you alright?"

Neji stopped at her hand and took the time to take quite a few deep breaths before responding. "I just...," He took in another gulp of air, "I needed to get out of there." His voice was shaky, but oxygen was starting to get through again. He felt his stomach and heart settle; his eyes burned less and less.

Ten-Ten sighed, watching her friend get himself together. "Listen Neji I know you going though a bit of a funk right now but we're really trying to help you out here."

Neji scowled, shaking her hand off of him. Is this what everyone thought this was. Just some funk that he was stuck in. A temper tantrum that had lasted too long. "This isn't just some funk as you call it that I can be helped out of Ten-Ten."

"Then what is it then Neji?" She groaned. "Your going to get you paint back eventually so why are you acting this way?"

Neji turned and glared at his friend. Why did he need to act a certain way? Why could he act pissed and upset when he was? Why didn't they understand? "Fine!" he snapped, making her jump. "How about I pose you the same situation." He turned toward Ten Ten with a glare that could freeze hell itself. "Imagine I took away your metal working. You can no longer do it. Not only that I'm changing your career path as well. Fuck doing what you want you have to be a nurse now. How exactly would you feel?"

Ten-Ten sighed, looking away for a minute. Honestly, if she was in that position, she didn't know what she would do. But she couldn't encourage Neji's behavior. "Neji that's not..."

He stopped her before she could continue. She needed to know why this was so hard. "Lets add on to it, shall we. Imagine that half of your family that you live with hate what you do, constantly telling you to stop. That this just a hobby, and your not that good anyway."

Ten Ten felt her heartache. "I didn't know that," she hushed.

"And now I go to this fucking art show where I'm starting to believe that maybe they might be right and I should have stopped a long time ago!" Neji couldn't stop himself. His voice was shaking, even craking at certain words. He was fed up, pissed off, and felt sick.

"All I'm left with is to accept the fact that I'm fated to be miserable for the rest of my life or I could just fucking end it and I-I don't know which..." Neji was finally able to stop himself, placing his fist to his mouth. He didn't mean for that last part to slip out, but this was getting unbearable. Every time he thought he was about to get back on his feet, a hammer knocked him right back on his ass. It was getting harder and harder to try and stand back up again. He just wanted it all to stop, but he couldn't because it wouldn't be fair. None of them, Hinata or friends, deserved that. So he would suffer and try to stand up again until he physically couldn't do it anymore. Unfortunately, his ability to do so was running dangerously low before he could really try.

Ten Ten was speechless. She had no idea that Neji's life was this bad. This was way bigger than a quick trip to cheer him up. He needed professional help. Hell, he probably should spend some time in a hospital to help him out.

"Neji, we need talk to somebody about this. You know, a professional. You can't deal with this on your own."

He moved his fist from his mouth to slide down his face. "And what the fuck are they going to do?" Neji growled. "Every professional in the city works for my Uncle and he doesn't give a fuck."

"Then let us help you." She hesitantly placed her hand back on his shoulder. "We'll find someone, anyone. We'll go outside the city if we have to. I don't care I just want you to be you again."

"I don't want your help. I never wanted your help. It's obviously not going well anyway."

"Neji that's not fair."

"Life isn't about being fair. You just deal with the shitty hand that fate decides to give you. Please allow me to deal with mine on my own." Neji started to walk away from the awestruck Ten-Ten, letting her hand fall to the side.

"At least let me drive you back home," She sighed, trying to call him back.

"No. I could use the air anyway."

Neji continued to walk away while she called out to him. The further he got, the more regret he felt. He shouldn't have left. He shouldn't have yelled. All he had to do was look at some art with his friend and leave. That's it. Now he didn't know if he still had a friend. If he was her, he'd be sick of his shit too. He was just so furious. Sick of suffering through a life that he wanted nothing to do with. Outraged at the fact that he might not even be that good at his own art. How long had it been since he had seen his own paintings? What did they even look like? It felt like years since he had picked up a paintbrush. He missed the paint smell that had always filled his room. He missed the smooth feeling of a paintbrush in his hand and the satisfying feeling of wet paint sliding across the canvass. Now all Neji had to look forward to in the day was falling back to sleep. A flash of his locked balcony door crossed his mind. Maybe losing all of his friends was a good thing. If he did decide enough was enough, at least no one would miss him. Neji stopped walking, smacking his palm against his forehead. He couldn't think like that. Once he started this job, he would get some money and buy some paint. That's all he needed to do—last another two weeks. In the meantime, he'd have to think of an apology.

Neji continued sauntering through the city. It was about a fifteen-minute drive to here, which meant he'd be walking for at least an hour to get home. He didn't mind. It had been a while since he had been on this side of the city. The entirety of Konoha was rather large and tourist-friendly. There were enough shops to keep everyone busy during the day and plenty of bars and restaurants for the nightlife. Right now, Neji was pushing past the busy sidewalks of the daytime crowd. He tuned out the shouting voices and the honking horns on the streets. He just wanted somewhere to think. If memory severed correctly, there was a small park nearby. Neji made his way toward the park but not without hearing a voice that grated his eardrums. Up ahead, he noticed Naruto running forward with what looked like a familiar redhead being dragged along. The last thing Neji wanted to deal with was an overwhelming Naruto. The last time he talked to Gaara, he was an asshole. Granted, Neji was also an asshole, but he didn't wasn't to deal with either of them none the less. Neji tried his best to push through the crowd to make sure that he remained unseen by the blond. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

"Neji? Is that you?"

"Fuck my life," Neji growled under his breath, instinctually stopping when his name was called.

Naruto made his way through the crowd stopping in front of Neji. He noticed that the redhead was practically dragged by the forearm, barely able to catch his steps when Naruto stopped. He took notice that Gaara refused to look his direction.

"What are you doing here?"

Neji's eyes lingered on Gaara for a second before turning to Naruto. "I'm trying to take a walk."

"What? There's no way you can walk around in this kind of crowd? You know there's a park nearby right?"

Neji took the time to suck in a breath through his nose before blowing out his mouth. He was already angry, but this was making his anger level reach a boiling point.

"Naruto, we're going to be late," Gaara spoke up, finally looking up at Neji.

The blonde jumped, looking at the time on his phone, "Oh shit, your right. There's a new ramen restaurant that just opened up and we're going to go try it. You want to come along? I kinda wanted to talk to you anyway." The thought of Naruto wanting to talk to him almost made him want to gag. That was something he could not handle today.

"The game, Naruto," Gaara once again spoke up, his tone still monotone. Neji quirked an eyebrow at that. What game? A ramen shop wouldn't be playing any sports. He brushed the thought aside; it wasn't any of his business.

The blond's shoulders slumped, "Fine, I guess. C'mon Gaara. See you later Neji." Naruto grabbed Gaara's forearm again and started marching on. Neji took notice of the slight nod the redhead shot at him as he was dragged away. Neji sighed. Now he had two people to apologize to.

The drive to school this morning was going to be awkward. Neji knew it was Hinata's idea to bring him to that art show, which did not end well. He completely avoided her for the rest of the weekend, doing his typical staying in his room until now. The trip invoked thoughts that he would never think to run through his mind. Was he really good at painting? He thought he was. Thirteen years of doing something would plant such ideas in one's head. His only critiques were Hinata and friends, so of course, they always said they looked good. Neji's never had a real opinion. Someone to really look at his work. God, what if he really wasn't good at painting.  
What was he going to do? How would he live? Neji felt the same nauseating feeling he did the day before. He took a couple deep breaths before heading for his car. Going straight to the car always ensured he would get there before his cousin. It would hopefully give him time to think about what to say to her. Just as that thought passed through his brain, the car door opened and shut. Neji's grip tightened on the wheel as Hinata settled into the seat. All he had to do was drive like normal and ignore her like he had been. It shouldn't be too hard, right?

"I didn't see you much this weekend," Hinata stated after they pulled out of the driveway.

"Yeah, wasn't feeling to well." Not a lie, he's felt nauseous since the trip to the art show.

Her eyebrows knitted together, "Your not getting sick are you? It's getting colder you should bundle up more."

"I'll be fine, don't worry," he droned. His stomach twisted again, causing him to fidget in his seat—only a few more minutes of driving to go.

"How was the art show?"

Yup, there was the question he was dreading.

He almost groaned but refrained. "It was alright." He really did not want to go into detail about what happened there lest he vomits again.

"Was there anybody you liked? Did you get to talk to some of the artists?"

Neji felt his stomach turn again, causing him to fidget and swallow hard. The phantom phrase of 'you aren't good enough' passing through his head. God, he might actually throw up.

"I don't, um," Neji took a moment to swallow down the building saliva in his mouth. Now the phrase 'you are not as good as them' ringing through his head. He couldn't complete the sentence, afraid of what might come out.

"Neji, are you alright?"

He didn't hear her. The motion of the car was making the nausea worse. They needed to stop. Neji pulled over the vehicle on the side of the road, placing his forehead on the steering wheel. He swallowed again, taking in shaky breaths through his nose and out of his mouth.

Hinata didn't know what to do. "Neji, are you sick? I can take you to the hospital." She placed a warm hand on his shoulder. After he took a couple more deep breaths before shrugging off her hand.

Neji took on more hard swallow before sitting up, putting the car in drive again. "I'm fine, I ate something bad. It's not sitting well with me."

Hinata stared at her cousin as they continued to drive. She wasn't sure what caused the odd reaction, but it certainly wasn't bad food. Almost all of the cooking was done by her, and Neji hardly ate as it was. No, something else was very wrong here. Maybe she was wrong about not going to an adult about this. What if this plan of hers made things worse. Hinata didn't want to think about that, but she would talk to Ten-Ten before classes started. Then she could come up with a plan.

Neji drifted off like a ghost while Hinata made her way over to Ten-Ten's car. She found her there leaning against the door with a sad-looking Lee in front of her.

"Um, Ten-Ten," Lee spoke up, pointing to Hinata. She turned to see Neji's fidgety cousin twirling her thumbs.

"I-it didn't go well did it," The raven-haired girl already knew the answer. The drive with Neji was scary, to say the least.

Ten-Ten shook her head," No, not at all."

Hinata felt like she could cry, placing her palms against her eyes. "This is my fault."

"No, no Hinata this isn't your fault." Ten-Ten walked to her and gave her a one-armed hug. "Neji's..." She sighed, "Neji need more than just us. I think he needs someone more professional."

"I suggested we tell our teacher. He can help," Lee spoke up.

"But Lee we don't know who Kakashi works for. As much as Neji was losing his mind yesterday he's right. Most psychologists work for his Uncle. As soon as he hears word,"

"My father will take over. He'll control everything." Hinata's voice shook while she talked. "If that happens Neji will..."

"It won't come to that Hinata. We'll still help him no matter how long it takes," Ten-Ten stated, giving the smaller girl a shake.

"But we can't take to long," Lee spoke up. "We need to get him help as soon as possible."

Ten-Ten huffed, "Just give me like a week and I'll find someone."

"What if we don't have a week?" Lee argued.

"I can help. Maybe we can find one quicker." Hinata chimed in. She had to make up for the damage she'd done.

Lee crossed his arms, "I don't know if I agree with this. This is an urgent matter that should be dealt with as soon as possible.

"Neji starts a job today, that should distract him for a little while, hopefully help him out." Hinata understood Lee's reasoning, but Ten-Ten was right. If their teacher worked for her father, then Neji was done for.

"Ah, see Lee, we have at least a week, maybe even a few to search for something." Ten-Ten released Hinata and patted Lee's shoulder.

Lee looked down, disappointed. He disagreed with this. His friend needed help now, and he was going to get it. "Okay, we should head to our classes so we're not late."

The girls agreed, saying their goodbyes, while he walked away to get to his first-class as quick as he could.

Neji felt horrible. He was guilty of lying to Hinata, mad about the entire ordeal in the car, and worst of all, he still felt like he was going to puke. In addition to all of that, this added another name to the list of apologies he needed to make. Nevertheless, he needed to make it through today. He brushed a hand through his hair and rubbed his eyes, needing to look a little presentable to ask Kakashi about joining the Sansui studies class. Neji waited until just before Kakashi started to pull out the same book he had been reading for the past couple of months.

"Kakashi."

"Hmm?" The teacher didn't look up from his book.

Neji placed the piece of paper on his desk, "Do you mind signing this for me?"

It took Kakashi a second before placing a bookmark into his book, setting it down with care, and picking up the paper. It felt like it took another two minutes for him to read through it. "So your trying to leave my class?"

"No, I would like to take two if possible. Shizune told me that she just needs some form of paper signed by you for that to happen."

Kakashi sat back in his chair, crossing his arms, looking up at his student. He didn't comment on it, but Neji looked unwell. His taking another class might add stress that this student didn't need. "How are you and your partner coming along with the project? I noticed that Gaara tends to disappear after roll call."

If Neji was an honest man, he would have told him that he and Gaara were probably as close they were on the first day of school. There was also the incriminating fact that his redheaded partner would sneak into the woods for some branches. But he had no problem lying no matter who it was, and there was no reason to sell Gaara out. "We work at the same job, so we are able work on the project then."

So the kid had a job as well. If he remembered from the phone call he got a while back from his guardian, failing was not an option. Pressure from a parent or guardian plus a job is quite a bit of stress for one person to handle. The question was whether this new class was to relieve stress or add to it. "How about this then. You show me your progress so far and if its adequate then I'll sign this." Hopefully, this would give Kakashi enough time to investigate what this was about.

Neji clenched his jaw but didn't let his frustration show on his face. "Of course. I'll bring it to you tomorrow."

"Looking forward to it," Kakashi droned, grabbing his book again. He had to give it to Neji. He was a damn good liar. It would be interesting to see what he could come up with within one day. No matter, he was just about done with this chapter, and hopefully, he could finish it before the next class.

"Mr. Kakashi Sensei Sir!"

Kakashi made an audible groan before slowly putting down his book though he didn't really need to. He knew who it was immediately. "Yes Lee."

"I would like to talk to you about something important Sir."

He didn't bother correcting Lee on the extra names like he did with the other students. When Kakashi told his bowl headed student, he peached how it was disrespectful to refer to him in such a matter, then added extra suffixes/prefixes after the incident. "What's the matter Lee?"

Lee looked around the classroom first before leaning into the desk closer to him. "I would like to talk to you about Neji Sir," he kind of whispered. Kakashi looked over to find the brunette was no longer in the classroom. Guess his opportunity would come sooner than he thought.

"What's going on?"

"U-um, well," Lee looked back again at the other students. "Hmm."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. There was never a time where he's seen Lee hesitant ever. Whatever this was, it was severe enough to truly worry him. "Come to me after class. We can talk then."

Lee nodded, walking back to his seat. Though she didn't mention it to Hinata, Ten-Ten had told him how Neji had a break down at the art show. Why both of them thought waiting was a good idea was beyond him. His friend was in trouble, and he would rather lose him as a friend and keep him alive than the opposite. So he waited.

Neji made his way outside as quickly as he could. He should have known getting that paper signed wouldn't have been as easy as he thought. Forging the signature wasn't an option this time; too many steps required. The only way this would work is to get at least some amount of this project done. Unfortunately, Neji promised that he would show Kakashi his work tomorrow, which meant this needed to happen as soon as possible. The only question was would Gaara comply?

Neji found the hole in the fence tat Gaara usually disappeared through. It was already slightly open, meaning the redhead was in the forest. Taking a quick look around first, Neji crawled through the opening. He took a moment to take in the environment. It was much like the painting he saw. The trees were on fire with reds and orange, their leaves decorating the dirt. The coniferous stuck out like a sore thumb till showing off their dark green needles. Neji strolled through the woods taking in the smell, sounds, and scenery. The nausea was forgotten for a more calming feeling that instantly relaxed him. If he was able to get into this art class, he would definitely miss coming out here. It was breathtaking.

Looking down, he could see Gaara's footprints indenting the leaves into the mud. Neji followed them to the same clearing they had gone to a few times. The redhead had a leaf by the stem, twirling it between his fingers.

"Hey," Neji spoke up. He noticed Gaara jump slightly, whipping his head around to look at him. Neji put his hands up with a slight smirk. Seeing his partner make a different expression other than bored was still a little satisfying, even if it was an accident. "I apologize. I didn't mean to make you jump." Neji couldn't stop smirking. There was a small twig jutting straight out from the back of his head. It looked like a giant exclamation point.

The redhead relaxed and nodded, "It's alright." He dropped the leaf in his hands, looking in Neji's direction.

"Uh...," Neji looked back and forth between the twig and Gaara's face, which was getting more confused the longer he stood. The combination of the stick and his look made Neji cohort out a chuckle. "There's a twig stuck in your hair."

Gaara bushed his hand through his hair a couple times; even shaking is head for good measure, but it only pushed the twig horizontal rather than vertical. The redhead looked back up at Neji with a look that Neji could only describe as a confused puppy. His head was slightly tilted to the side, and eyebrows knitted together. The expression caused him to almost chuckle again. He wasn't used to seeing much of any emotion on the man's face, now he had gotten three all in one go.

"I'll get it. Turn around." Neji stepped up the redhead.

Gaara turned, lowering his head slightly for Neji to see. It looked loose enough to just yank right out. He gave it a yank and immediately regretted it when Gaara hissed as a couple strands of hair ripped from his scalp.

Neji grimaced, "Sorry, sorry. I guess it's a bit more tangled that I thought."

He carefully parted Gaara's hair. A couple of strands of hair were tangled around a small nub growing from the twig. Neji twisted the stick around, trying not to pull any red hair with it.

As he fiddled with the stick, he couldn't help but feel intrigued by the texture of Gaara's hair. It was mixed with soft and coarse strands, but mostly rough, almost wiry. It made him want to run his hand through it just for the sheer curiosity of how it felt through his fingers. He resisted the urge, successfully pulling the stick out, tossing it to the side.

"There, its out."

Gaara stepped away, shaking his hair, "Thank you." Neji nodded, standing awkwardly.

"You followed me out here?" Gaara started rubbing the back of his head, making Neji feel a little bad.

"Ah yeah, I wanted to ask you something?"

Gaara raised an eyebrow.

He was starting to get slightly nervous. What if Gaara disagreed? There was no way he'd get into the class. Neji turned and saw his regular spot by the bench and went to sit. First thing first, things needed to be set straight before he asked. "First, I wanted to thank you and apologize." Once again, he received a brief look of shock and confusion.

"I was...last time we talked in the woods I was less than pleasant and the reasoning had nothing to do with you. I am sorry about that." Neji left out the part that Gaara was just as much of a dick as he was. He needed a favor. "Than yesterday, with Naruto you..."

"There is no reason to apologize or thank me. I was not was not considerate of your feelings that day and you didn't seem much better yesterday either." Gaara's face was once again neutral, not necessarily making Neji feel any better.

"I was having a bit of an off day," Neji grumbled. He didn't want to remember yesterday at all.

"Seems like that's everyday."

Neji looked to the side, staying silent. The comment annoyed him, but he didn't want to voice that. He still needed a favor.

"What did you want to ask?" It almost sounded like there was a sigh in his voice, but it was very hushed.

The taller of the two snapped out of his own mind turning back to his partner. "I wanted to take another class along with this one but Kakashi wanted to see my progress in the project."

"Which we've made none," Gaara added.

"Exactly, so I was hoping that we could find the time to work on it today, maybe." Neji felt the need to hold his breath.

There was a birth of silence between the both of them. Neji shifted awkwardly on the grass. "I told Kakashi I would show him tomorrow..."

This time Gaara smirked and nodded, pulling out a piece of paper. "You start your position today correct?"

Shit, he almost forgot about that. They would have to work on the project afterward. Neji nodded, and the redhead scribbled an address on the paper, walking over and handed it to him.

"We go can here, after work."

Neji took the paper looking at the address. Who knows where the hell Gaara would lead him to after the last time, and he most definitely didn't need a second job in his current state. "Last time I followed you to a place, I got an involuntary job."

Gaara shrugged, "You asked."

Neji glared, “Not for a job.”

"Semantics."

"Fuck you, no it isn't." Neji couldn't help but chuckle out. He didn't know what it was about this guy, but he seemed to almost always get a chuckle out of him. Maybe it was just the woods calming him down.

Gaara gave a small smile in return, "It's a restaurant that I noticed going the ramen place with Naruto. I was going to ask him to go with me this weekend but I guess you'll suffice."

Neji slapped a glare right back on his face, instantly remembering if Gaara wasn't making him chuckle, he was close to wanting to strangle him. Being compared to Naruto in any sense, was insulting. "Thanks, I guess. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of money to spend," he hissed, shivering as he stood up from his spot. The ground was a little colder than he thought it would be.

"I will pay for it," Gaara started walking to his jars to put them away.

"No, I probably won't be hungry anyway." Though his nausea had gone away, for the time being, the thought of eating anything today was still sickening.

Gaara looked at him for a second only to look away, "Regardless my statement still stands."

"Fine. I can take you home afterward I guess," Neji sighed. He wasn't going to argue.

Gaara slung his bag over his shoulder, "Can your car fit a bike?"

"What?" Definitely not the question he expected to come out of his mouth.

"I bike to the sanctuary."

"You ride bike all the way out there?" That was far for a car, let alone a bike. How was the kid not knocked out by the time he got there?

Gaara shrugged, walking away from the clearing. "It was my choice to get the job and my responsibility to get there."

Based on his answer, he must have gotten that question before. Neji decided not to question any further. "We can make it work." His car most likely would not fit a bike, but Neji didn't want to add any complications. Right now, he was happy the redhead had agreed to this.

Gaara nodded, "I'll see you after work then."

There weren't any more words exchanged between the two as they made their way out of the forest. Even when they parted ways for their next class. As Neji walked to the library, he couldn't help but feel a little better. He started his job today, which hopefully will help, and he could get this project out of the way. Even better, if they got enough done tonight, he could start some type of art class. Maybe, just maybe, he might be able to stand up without being knocked down.

Once the bell rang, Lee waited until all the other students made their way out of the room to make his way back up to Kakashi's desk. Before he could say anything, his teacher held up his hand and walked to the door, locking it before coming back. Kakashi perched himself on the edge of the desk, "Alright go ahead."

"Right! I'm worried about my friend Neji. He has not been himself for the past couple months."

"Like how? Not himself is very nonspecific."

"Yes, well," Lee place his finger on his chin, "He has been a lot more distant than before like a completely different person. He no loner wants to be around us anymore and he just gets mad when we try to communicate with him. His cousin Hinata can't even talk to him anymore."

Kakashi sighed. This just sounded like a teenager going through a rough patch. Maybe this job he has is a little too stressful. Maybe his parents were a little too tough on grades. Speaking of which, he remembered the disgruntled call from someone about Neji. "When did this start?"

"The beginning of the year, sir."

Kakashi nodded. Around that time, the boy's guardian had called demanding to know what he had been doing in class that day. He wasn't paying that much attention in complete honesty, so Kakashi told him that Neji worked on the project like everyone else. The next day he saw the boy asleep in class looking like someone had just beaten him with a stick. Usually, when parents call like that, their kids just need to do whatever they said, and things would repair themselves. Now Kakashi was wondering if his advice might have hurt more than helped. "Did something happen around then? Something involving his parental guardian?" He felt odd calling whoever that was by that title, but he still didn't know who exactly he was.

"Well you see, though Neji has his career path set on psychology, he has a deep passion for painting. He has since I've known him when we were kids but his Uncle took that away from him." Lee clenched his fists. He was so angry that someone could take away another's passion, just like that. "With that gone, Neji has nothing to devote his passion toward. I believe that he is lost without it."

So his student was just going through a rough patch. It didn't sound like something he really needed to get involved with then. "He's depressed without painting. I realize that he isn't willing to talk to you about this but have you tried diverting his attention else were. Try and keep him busy so he has other things to think about." Kakashi starts to scoot off the desk to grab his bag.

"No, sensei you don't understand!" Lee yelled, slamming his palms on the desk, making the teacher jump. "Painting is Neji's life. Without his painting, Neji..." He paused, not wanting to voice the truth. It hurt too much, but it had to be done. "Neji could have no life."

Kakashi raised both eyebrows. Okay, that didn't sound like just a rough patch. If what Lee was insinuating was correct, Neji Hyūga was suicidal or at least getting to that point. "Now Lee," He said, turning back around. "I want you to be very clear with me when you answer this. Do you believe Neji's life is in danger?"

It took a moment for Lee to answer. He closed his eyes, clenching his fists; there was no going back after this. After this, Neji would most likely never want to see him again, but at least he would be alive to hate him. "Yes sir, I do."

Kakashi felt his heart sink a little bit at his student's answer. That's not what he wanted to hear at all. "Alright, I'll take care of things from here. I will let you know that I will have to contact his Uncle after hearing this."

Lee's eyes widened, "But sir, Neji's Uncle is..."

"This is information that I can not take lightly Lee. No matter what happened between them, Neji's Uncle sounds like he is his current guardian. He has to be notified."

Lee looked down at the floor and nodded, "I understand. Thank you sensei."

"Alright, I'll right you a note so you don't get in trouble with your next class. This conversation stays between us as well, understood." Lee didn't seem like the type to go gossiping around, but he wanted to be sure.

"Yes sir." Lee was a little defeated but accepted what needed to happen. Neji needed help now, and if that meant his Uncle had to be told, then so be it. Maybe Kakashi could prevent anything truly horrible from happening. All Lee wanted was for his friend to stay alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I somehow managed to update this in precisely a year, which is crazy to me. I hope everybody is making the most out of this shitty, shitty year and staying safe. As always, thank you so much for reading. Please tell me what you think; I would love to hear your opinion. I will most likely see you next year, hopefully, a little sooner, maybe.


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